Freedom (Rewrite)
by Welcome to the New
Summary: Sequel to Different and Rogue. Mira and Beck have arrived in the Real World to stop not only Cyrus, but close the Portals that have been opening up throughout the Grid. Only two problems stand in their way: SHIELD, and the Avengers. How are they going to cope with the secrets, and a big new world all at once? Third in the Therapy Session series. Rated T for mentions of torture.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

" _And you develop a problem in trustin' in other people, Which later became an issue that will mentally pound you! You only get one life, But every time you lookin' at yours you feel like all you ever see are mistakes And the problem and the reason you could never move forward in life, Is because you were never awake..._ " - Wake Up, NF

* * *

The first thing she noticed was how dark and cold it was around them. For a moment, she wondered if this was what it felt like to be in Limbo. Limbo was a place where one went when the final decision was yet to be made. A place where it felt like one was about to die, and yet was still very much alive. A shiver ran through her at the thought. Was that to be their fate upon their arrival to the Real World? Were they meant to die?

Eventually, she felt a rush of cold wind brushing past her. Noises could be heard all around them. Panicked shouts, screams of pain and fear. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Mira found her arms wrapped around Beck's shoulders. Heat rose to her cheeks in nanocycles, and she untangled herself just as Beck had, looking as if he'd gone pale as well. She hardly noticed the cold now, as she realized they were not in Flynn's Arcade like they were supposed to be.

"Where are we?" Beck asked as he finally found the courage to speak.

Mira glanced around cautiously, noticing layers of dust covering the floor and shelves of the room they were in. She checked to make sure that her light cycle baton and light sword were still with her, and she let out a sigh of relief after finding them where they always were. She always kept her batons in close range if there was ever an emergency. On more than one occasion, the batons had saved her life or they'd given her the chance to escape from a major fight. If she lost them on the Grid, she wasn't sure what she would have done.

"I don't know," she admitted guiltily. She should have known where they were. The Portal should have taken them straight to Flynn's Arcade. Yet the more she thought about it, the more she realized how silly that sounded. Portals were opening across the Outlands, in different directions on the Grid. It made sense that each Portal would take them to a different location throughout the Real World. "Come on, we need to get out of here," she said after deciding that sticking around wouldn't get them anywhere.

The longer they stayed in one area, the higher chances they had of getting found by other Users. Mira wasn't in any hurry to explain where they came from, and why they probably looked like a mess from being on the Grid. Users would more than likely question where they came from, and she had a feeling that they wouldn't take well to finding out about the Grid, especially given the state it was in. A shiver of unease swept through her at the thought of what would happen if other Users were found in the same situation she had been in.

They took the stairs and ran up, only to find themselves surrounded in chaos. Mira's eyes widened in alarm when she saw that the floor was covered in broken glass and various structures that looked as if they'd been destroyed. She didn't miss the fact that Users were cowering in a corner of the building, looking particularly fearful when they spotted her and Beck for the first time. One look at Beck was all it took for her to realize that something was wrong. Rinzler clutched onto her shoulder for dear life, mewling in distress at the sudden tension. Though he'd never seen anything from the Real World, she could tell that he was on the verge of panicking when he noticed that they weren't alone, and that the Users were staring at them with horrified expressions.

That was when she spotted something approaching the group of Users. It was a creature that made her skin crawl with disgust and fear. It could be mistaken for a Gridbug, or worse, a virus. The heavily armored creature looked like something out of a horror nightmare, and it was carrying what looked like a weapon in its claws. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she realized that the weapon was likely some kind of grenade, and the Users were the creature's target.

"That's not normal in the Real World, is it?" Beck asked in alarm, already getting into a defensive position.

One of the creatures was headed straight for them, while the other had advanced on the Users. The Users themselves looked as if they were trying to find an escape route, but the creatures had all of them blocked. Instinct kicked in faster than she expected, and Mira reached for her light sword.

"Nope, definitely not!" She didn't hesitate to swing a fist into the creature that was holding its weapon, ignoring the stinging pain that followed. More of the strange looking creatures were crashing into the building, each of them carrying a high-tech looking weapon. The Users who were cowering in the corner let out terrified shouts when another creature rushed in and threw the weapon the creature she knocked out earlier was holding. She braced herself for the explosion that would follow after realizing it was a grenade, but it was blocked by something thrown in its direction. "This is definitely not anything I remember."

She turned in time to see Beck trying to turn his baton into a light cycle.

"My light cycle won't work here!" he exclaimed after trying multiple times to get it to work. Rolling her eyes, Mira swung her light sword into the chest of another creature that had gotten too close for comfort, causing it to lurch forward in pain. Of course he would have been more focused on trying to get his light cycle working than the fight at hand. "How are we supposed to get around here without light cycles?"

"We run!"

Before Beck could make sense of what she meant by that, Mira grabbed him by the wrist and made a run for it when there was an opening. In the rush of panic, she would have never noticed the costumed User who was watching them curiously, if she hadn't looked over her shoulder. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight of the strangely dressed User. She didn't have time to dwell on it though, even if her thoughts were consumed with what was happening around them.

 _This is too weird_ , she thought.

It felt as if she _should_ know what was going on, especially as they reached the outside and could see for the first time what was really going on. A battle that had left this User city in shambles. Buildings with shattered windows, along with more of those creatures flying around. The costumed User from earlier had finally caught up with a group of other costumed Users, and Mira couldn't help but exchange a look of worry with Beck.

Suddenly, it felt as if Cyrus was a small-time threat compared to this battle.

He could have easily been responsible for causing this battle in the first place, but Mira seriously doubted that was the case. Cyrus was cynical and slightly intelligent, but that didn't mean he could find creatures like these to attack the Users. Something or someone else was responsible for this battle.

"You think you can hold them off?" the User dressed in a red, white and blue costume asked.

Mira's eyes narrowed as she suddenly found herself trying to recall where she had seen him before. He looked very familiar, albeit battle-torn and wary from the fight going on. Though, after everything she and Beck had been through over the last couple of cycles, she had a feeling they didn't look much better. She tried to avoid catching their curious looks after they finally noticed they weren't alone.

"Captain," one of the Users said after pulling out what looked like a weapon of sorts, "it would be my genuine pleasure."

One of the aliens closest to them was suddenly knocked out in an instant when the User fired a weapon, the impact of the weapon exploding in the alien's face. That was when they noticed the two strangers standing behind them. Mira felt Beck tense beside her as one of the Users looked at them warily. The same red-head from her dreams. She wasn't expecting to see this User again. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled how coldly the User had acted.

"Who are they?" the same User dressed in a red, white and blue suit suddenly asked.

Mira glanced at Rinzler as he kept balanced on her shoulder, fur standing on end as one of the alien-creatures got dangerously close. This was definitely not what she was expecting to see the moment she returned to the Real World. But those creatures were getting closer, and the Users that had been momentarily distracted were fighting against them again. One quick nod to Beck was all it took for things to go from bad to worse. Rinzler jumped off her shoulder and found a suitable hiding place as she reached for her light sword baton, thankful that weapon still worked outside the Grid.

The fight was quick and brutal. Mira managed to stab a few of the alien-creatures in the chest when she found a weak spot, knocking them out while avoiding a blow from their weapons. Beck held his own by punching a few of them – she hadn't even realized until now that their disks were gone. The only other means of defense were gone. It felt like there was no end to these things as they kept approaching, only to meet their demise when they got too close for comfort.

"So, is this anything like you remembered?" Beck asked after knocking out his fifth alien-creature.

Mira only rolled her eyes at that, not bothering to make a snide comment as she grabbed one of the alien-creatures by the shoulder and flipped them on their back. By now, she was getting tired of being asked if she remembered anything from her past life. Memories of the Real World were foggy at best. Since she had been living on the Grid for over ten years, she'd begun forgetting what life in the Real World was like. She knew it was partly her own fault. Because there was so much to learn on the Grid, she hadn't wanted to remember the Real World simply because it would hinder her abilities to fight back against any enemies. Now, she was struggling to recall whether or not something like this had happened before.

"I was seriously hoping we'd just find Cyrus and take him down," she muttered under her breath. "This isn't our fight; we need to get out of here before they start asking questions," she added.

She shot a wary look towards the Users who had already begun splitting into smaller groups. They already seemed to know what they were doing. She and Beck were only there to close the Portals and possibly bring Cyrus down if he was in the Real World. Getting caught in someone's battle wasn't part of the plan. The last thing she wanted was to be dragged into something that neither of them were prepared for, especially if it meant they didn't have the chance to stop Cyrus once and for all.

Beck looked at her in surprise before nodding in agreement. One look towards Rinzler's hiding place was all it took for the kitten to bound over to them and jump onto her shoulder. She was thankful he hadn't gotten injured during the fight. He was just shaken from it, his whiskers twitching with terror at the thought of being caught by those large creatures. The Users were distracted enough that it gave them a chance to escape before anyone else took notice of them.

It didn't take either of them long to find shelter in a small, shabby looking building complex far from the scene. Mira's shoulders sagged in relief as she caught her breath. She couldn't imagine how something like this could have happened, or how they always seemed to get caught in these messes.

 _Figures that we would find ourselves trying to get out of this mess_ , she thought bitterly. She knew it was bound to happen sooner or later since they were in the Real World. But she had been hoping they would have enough time to find Cyrus and close the Portals as well.

"How are we supposed to find Cyrus in this mess?" Beck asked.

He peered cautiously out of the window to see the destruction those alien-creatures had caused outside. Mira followed his gaze, noting the broken windows and holes formed in the buildings where those alien-creatures had attacked.

It was strange not to see any Users around in a big city like this. She had a feeling that any survivors from this attack would have fled while they had the chance. Rinzler mewled in concern as he noticed how uneasy both of them were.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, letting out a sigh of frustration as she thought of the chaos on the Grid. "Somehow, we have to find him before he causes this kind of destruction in the Real World."

She was just thankful those Users from earlier hadn't tried stopping them. They were too distracted fighting off those alien-creatures, and part of her felt as if she should have helped them. But they had a different mission, one that was even riskier.

…

Shawarma was an interesting sandwich. Not that that was what everyone was talking about in the small diner that was still open, despite the chaos from earlier. The Avengers were all gathered around a table eating their sandwiches, either doing something to keep themselves busy, or discussing the aftermath of the battle.

"Stark, are you getting anything on those kids we saw?" Steve asked after grimacing at the taste of his sandwich.

Everyone shared looks of unease at the mention of the kids they had seen during the fight. They had fought alongside the team for a while, until suddenly running off while they were distracted. No one wanted to admit that they had been startled to even see a couple of kids lingering around that mess. The kids in question had looked as if they'd been through some kind of hell, even if it was just a brief sighting. The fact that they managed to hold their own against the aliens had left everyone wondering where they came from, and whether they would see them again.

Tony, despite looking like he'd seen better days, was typing away at a pad while taking a bite from his sandwich. He simply looked up from his work before nodding.

"Haven't found anything yet, other than a few odd stories about someone with weird tattoos leaving destruction wherever he goes," he muttered. "That someone had tattoos similar to that kid in the city earlier today."

"So, you think there's a connection?" Bruce asked.

"Not sure," Tony replied with a shrug. "I'm sure Romanoff and Barton will be hearing about it soon enough, though."

Both SHIELD agents in question glared at him in response. Because fighting the Chitauri and taking Loki down wasn't enough. Most of the team was already exhausted from fighting the Chitauri all day. Not to mention they needed time to recover from what Loki had done to them. Clint especially still had a hell of a headache that he was recovering from after whatever hold Loki had over him.

"They fought like true warriors," Thor boasted, thinking back to how well the two of them had worked together.

"You know, that girl fought almost like Romanoff. She could probably give you a run for your money," Tony said with a knowing smirk, to which Natasha suddenly kicked him from under the table.

"Then it's a good thing I planted a tracer on one of them," she put in, though no one really looked surprised by that.

Anyone who could fight as well as a fully trained SHIELD agent could pose a threat to national security.

"Very sneaky," Tony said cheekily.

Whatever these kids were up to, the team wasn't even close to finished with their job. One journey led to another, and this would be one of the strangest of all.

* * *

 **AN: So, there's the beginning of the rewrite for Freedom. And, it is very different from the original :) Obviously, there will be a couple of chapters that are similar to the original, but most of it will be different. Considering Mira's upbringing and her lack of trust in people, I really wanted to point that out in this story, and not just sugarcoat it, this time. So, hopefully readers will find this story just as enjoyable as the other two :) Also, NF is the real inspiration for rewriting this story, so please feel free to check him out. Nothing like a little promotion to one of my favorite rappers ;)**

 **Retrokill - I know, it's been a crazy couple of weeks D: I've had to escape to the world of FF several times... too bad it's only a temporary escape. And I'm glad this helps your mood :) As for whether this is Beck x Paige, I'm afraid not. As awesome as that would be, I've already planned on making it a Beck x OC long ago ;) And, surprisingly, it's not the first Tron X Avengers crossover. I'm glad you'll be reading it, and hopefully you'll enjoy this as much as you enjoyed Rogue :)**


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

She couldn't believe that all had happened. The alien-creatures that had infested the city were now gone. Users were beginning to emerge from their hiding places when they realized the threat was over. Glancing back at the shabby looking place they had sheltered in, she realized it wouldn't be safe for long. Shattered glass covered the floor as they tried to find a suitable place to rest for the time being. What looked like a large desk in the center of a lobby that was overturned made up a barrier in case those alien-creatures decided to break in.

It had only been one cycle and already they were hopelessly lost as to what they should do next. Rinzler was pawing at a puddle of water that had formed on the floor, mewling in confusion when he saw his reflection. Beck kept staring out the window, as if he was expecting the worst to happen if they stepped foot outside. Not that Mira couldn't blame him. She chewed the bottom of her lip anxiously as she wondered what he thought the Real World would look like when they arrived.

 _This wasn't how I wanted things to go_ , she thought bitterly as she stared at the crumbling walls that surrounded them. They were supposed to go after Cyrus once they had arrived in the Real World. That was the plan, to find Cyrus and stop the Portals from opening up across the Grid. Somehow, things had gone horribly wrong. She shouldn't have been surprised by that notion. It seemed as if just when they had a plan in mind, it all began to unravel in a miserable mess.

"Beck, do you still have your decoder?" she asked, glancing at Beck warily.

He rose an eyebrow in surprise before pulling the tool Bodhi had designed out.

"I never leave without out it… why?" he asked after joining her.

"There might be a way to modify our light cycles so that they work here," she explained after pulling out her light cycle baton. "The light trails wouldn't work, but at least we could get around the city faster this way."

Beck's eyes widened in surprise at that, but he was all too eager to see whether or not something like that could happen. Mira took a deep breath before placing the decoder on her baton. Light cycles weren't exactly her forte, but she was always eager to learn something new when it came to the Grid. Working with code meant that she had been able to modify certain vehicles to her liking. And while she knew that light cycles were different from light jets or other vehicles she'd been using, she did know which piece went where thanks to what Beck was able to show her.

 _Please let this work_ , she begged silently as she pulled apart bits and pieces of code.

Luckily, Beck was there to help in case she pulled out anything important. Having a mechanic around did come in handy when it came to modifying light cycles. It felt like pectrocycles had passed before anything actually happened. Finally, she was able to get the light cycle to function properly after piecing together the right codes. She twisted the handle bar just to make sure, and sure enough, the engine ran perfectly.

"You never cease to amaze me," Beck said with a sheepish grin as she looked at him in surprise.

Mira couldn't help but blush at the compliment before she worked on his light cycle next. Once she had the system figured out, getting the second one to function properly was easy. The one benefit of being able to manipulate code was that she could memorize the patterns and figure it out faster once it was initially done.

"Now, we should be able to get through the city a lot faster," she murmured thoughtfully, glancing out the window warily. "If we're lucky, we won't get caught out there."

"You mean there are other threats out there?"

Mira didn't miss the look of horror in Beck's eyes. After facing those alien-creatures, she couldn't blame him for being afraid. Life out here made the Grid look like a cakewalk. Though, she knew that it wasn't always that way. Her memories of the Real World might have been foggy, but she was aware that threats like the one from yesterday didn't happen that often. They'd only arrived in the Real World at a bad time, it seemed.

"We'll be fine, as long as we stick together," she reassured him. "Believe me, not all Users are like the ones we saw the other cycle."

For a moment, it looked as if Beck was ready to turn back and stay in this creepy old building when he thought better of it. Mira was afraid that if they stayed any longer, Users would try to investigate whoever was hiding out in the old building. As long as they stayed on the move and as long as they were together, things wouldn't seem so hopeless. At least, that was what she hoped for. She didn't want Beck to think that the Real World was a place full of danger and terrifying things, even though that was close to the truth.

The two of them headed out once Rinzler was on Mira's shoulder. Their light cycles worked perfectly fine out on the Real World road, if not better than Mira imagined. She swerved in and out of the debris and bodies of alien-creatures that littered the ground, with Beck close behind her. Users who were just returning to their homes and workplaces stopped in their tracks, stunned to see the pair riding through their streets as if nothing had happened.

This was the first time Mira had ever seen a city like this in the Real World. At least when it wasn't under attack by strange looking alien-creatures. The sky was dark, just like the Grid. Somehow, this seemed familiar. Then she pulled on her breaks, skidding to a halt when she saw a hooded figure standing in front of them. It took Beck a few nanocycles to realize what she had done before doing the same thing.

"It took you long enough to find me." A shiver swept through her when Mira heard that grating voice. "I was beginning to wonder if the Renegade and the Rogue had given up on me."

"We were taught by the best," Beck retorted, getting off his light cycle and glaring at Cyrus as he lifted his hood.

The moment he did was when Mira flinched at the sight. His face was covered in what used to be light lines, only they were more distorted than usual. Cyrus only crossed his arms and smirked as he leaned against one of the buildings surrounding them. His confidence was what really sent shivers of rage through Mira. She had a feeling at this point that he was just trying to tease them, or goad them into making a mistake they would later regret.

"Users are such weak and useless creatures," he sneered. "The ones I ran into; they didn't stand a chance."

"What have you done to them?" Mira demanded.

Her fists clenched with fury as she realized that this was exactly what Cyrus had been hoping for. He was a sadistic program. He enjoyed seeing others in pain and he enjoyed making sure that they felt it, even if it wasn't physical pain. If there was one thing Cyrus was good at, it was causing chaos wherever he went. A shiver of unease swept through her as she thought of the countless problems he'd created on the Grid. And now he was going to do the same around the Real World unless they stopped him.

"I've done a little redecorating," Cyrus replied with a shrug. "I'm sure you'll find out about it soon. But for now, I wanted to see your sorry faces before you were taken down, permanently."

That did it. Rinzler jumped off of her shoulder and hid somewhere before the fight broke out. Mira wasted no time in rushing forward before Cyrus or Beck could react. She slammed a fist into Cyrus' face, ignoring the stinging pain that followed as he blocked her blow. She took his moment of distraction by swiping her legs out, tripping in and slamming her elbow into his chest.

The way Cyrus was grinning didn't make matters any better as he managed to kick her in the thigh. Her teeth ground together in pain, just as Beck threw a good punch or two. Cyrus only chuckled as he managed to shove Beck aside and pin Mira to the ground.

"You're just as predictable as I remembered."

Her eyes narrowed with hate as Cyrus reached for something on his back. That was when she realized something was seriously wrong. Beck had lost his disk the moment they appeared in the Real World, and so had hers. But Cyrus still had his, activated and ready for a killing blow as he held her down by the arms. Cyrus was about to lower his disk when something caught him by surprise.

Mira gaped in surprise when Rinzler suddenly leaped out of his hiding place and lunged at Cyrus, hackles standing on end as he clawed at Cyrus' face. The moment Rinzler attacked was when Mira used her light sword to swing across Cyrus' chest in an attempt to knock him out. Rinzler's claws scored deep marks on Cyrus' face when he staggered to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Now that's something I wouldn't expect to see," Beck muttered under his breath, only just registering what had happened.

Cyrus' face twisted with a look of pure malice as he glared at the two of them. Rinzler had jumped out of the way just in time and sat perched on Mira's shoulders. His fur was still standing on end as he took on a more menacing appearance. Despite the fact that he was just a kitten, he wasn't going to let anyone forget that he had claws.

"This isn't over!" Cyrus yelled as the hood covered his face again. "When I'm finished here, you're going to wish you were both never created!"

Her heart nearly skipped a beat when Cyrus used the shadows to disappear again without a trace, and with no tracker to follow him, finding him again would be next to impossible.

 _He has no idea just how right he is_ , she thought bitterly. Sometimes she wondered if she was meant to survive at all. She still blamed herself for everything that had happened on the Grid. She had lost so much over the xilacycles. And things weren't going to get any better now that she was in the Real World. That much she was sure of.

…

Natasha leaned forward on the rooftop as she studied the two strangers through a pair of high-tech binoculars. The pair was just talking at the moment as they tried to recover from the fight minutes ago. Watching was primarily her reason for being here. But the way the two had fought made it seem as if they had trained together for a long time. Something about the way they fought seemed oddly familiar.

"Romanoff, what's your status?" Natasha flinched at the sound of Maria Hill's voice. The two were still standing there after the hooded figure fled. It was obvious he had run scared; he knew they could easily defeat them if something wasn't holding them back. "Agent Romanoff!"

"Romanoff to Hill, I'm at the top of Stark Tower, or what's left of it," Natasha explained through her earpiece. "I've found our latest subjects. They're just… talking."

"Fury wants them in, immediately," agent Hill told her. "He thinks they might be connected with the latest explosions in New York City."

Despite Director Fury's presumptions, Natasha highly doubted these two were responsible for those explosions. They had only appeared just two days ago when the Chitauri invaded Manhattan. From what it seemed, they were looking for something, or someone.

Orders were orders, no matter what her instincts told her. These two would need to be taken in, whether they were willing or not.

…

"So… what now?" Beck asked.

His shoulders sagged in defeat as he leaned against the nearest building they stopped at. Rinzler was licking his claws as if nothing had happened, and Mira almost wished she could share that sense of innocence. He had surprised her by jumping in and taking Cyrus down on his own, and that terrified her. The last thing she wanted was to lose her furry friend. She'd already lost enough to know that she couldn't handle the loss of yet another friend.

"I don't know," she admitted guiltily. This had ended in a disaster. How could they let Cyrus go after everything he had done to them? "This is going to be harder than I first thought… Cyrus isn't going to rest until everyone we care about is killed."

"Good thing everyone we care about are still on the Grid," Beck said, his voice suddenly bitter.

Mira couldn't help but flinch at the scathing tone in his voice. She had allowed anger to blind her. If she had thought before acting, maybe they would have stopped Cyrus from escaping. Guilt stabbed her in the chest as she thought of how this whole incident could have been avoided in the first place.

"This is all my fault," she sighed. She didn't want to shake off the grief of losing so much. Grief gave her a sense of direction as to where she needed to go next. And even if she blamed herself for everything that was happening now, she needed to move on. "We need to keep looking for him, and a way to close those Portals. If Clu finds a way into the Real World, it's game over," she added.

She suddenly felt more determined than ever to keep Clu from making things worse for these Users. They'd already been through enough for one cycle. Beck looked at her in surprise before nodding in agreement.

"How exactly are we supposed to close the Portals?" he asked warily. "Tron never told us."

Once again, her mind was piecing together what the voice had told her when she closed the Portal on the Grid. It would take tremendous power to close all of them and lower the energy levels throughout the Outlands. But she had a feeling finding a supercomputer in the Real World wouldn't be that difficult.

"We could always ask for help," she replied, realizing that would be their best bet. Beck was about to say something else when Mira felt as if someone was watching them. She looked around warily, eyes narrowing as she studied the alleyways and shadows surrounding them. The sound of footsteps gave whoever was approaching them away. "Let's go."

Rinzler was following their every step when suddenly Mira felt a surge of energy rush through her. The minute she did was when instinct kicked in. She activated her light sword once again, struggling to ignore the stinging pain. She would have thought that after getting tased so many times on the Grid, she would be used to the pain by now. Whoever fired the tasers was the same intruder who had followed them earlier.

She grabbed hold of the intruder's shoulders and suddenly slung them over hers. It was too dark to make anything out, and Mira allowed all of Tron's training to kick in as she felt her way around instead. The intruder was already back on their feet, moving in a way that made it almost impossible to keep track of them. Mira smirked when she heard the sound of footsteps on cold cement. That was a mistake on whoever was attacking her.

Despite the pain from earlier when Cyrus had kicked her thigh, she found the strength to swing out her left leg and managed to trip the attacker. For a moment, Mira thought she might have beaten the attacker when she suddenly felt a stabbing pain on her right shoulder. Mira held back a cry of pain when her attacker suddenly twisted her wrist and pinned her against the building.

"Stand down, now!" That only made her attempt to escape all the more desperate, and the attacker pressed her harder against the building. "Do you want to have more than just a broken shoulder when I'm finished?"

"What did you do to my partner?" Mira asked through gritted teeth, her voice muffled by the wall.

"He's only knocked out temporarily, which is something you are going to face if you don't stand down," the attacker replied, still not loosening their grip.

Rage burned within Mira as she realized this attacker wasn't anything like Cyrus. His attacks were swift and brutal, but he usually made sure that the victim saw his face before they were taken down. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't keep fighting back with her new injuries. And the moment Mira had let down her guard was when she felt another stabbing pain in her back, and the world went dark around her.

* * *

 **AN: Ah, I'm having fun rewriting these chapters... this one in particular, I loved. And, I'm updating every Tuesday and every Thursday... I figure it'll be easier to keep track of that way, and if I miss a day... than I apologize for that XD Anywho, big thanks to Retrokill for reviewing!**

 **Retrokill - XD I am not giving anything away, though if you read through the original than you'll figure it out fast enough :P Her fighting skills are similar to Nat's because of her training with Tron, and learning to defend herself on the Grid. Hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint, either :)**


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"Geez, Nat, you couldn't have gone easier on them?"

"They need to know who they're dealing with. Director Fury made certain that we show them the hard way."

"Well, you sure proved to them that they can't trust us."

"I wouldn't expect them to, not right away at least."

Clint was leaning against a wall as he studied the girl that was brought to the hospital late last night. She was still out cold after the brutal beat down Natasha had given her. Though from what it sounded like, she had given Natasha a taste of her own medicine. If she was able to fight the way she had, then it explained why the boss wanted them both taken into custody. Though, he had a feeling it had more to do with the kid and his odd tattoos than their fighting skills.

What the nurses and doctors had uncovered had shocked and horrified everyone when they were first brought in. The girl was covered in scars, some old, some fresh. And most of them weren't even visible. Whatever she and her partner had suffered from, no one wanted to talk about it. It was clear the girl had been through hell. The fact that she had endured the scars that were given to her should have been the first signs.

There was also something about this girl was hauntingly familiar, though. No one wanted to admit that she bared a striking resemblance to a certain SHIELD agent. Not after the way Natasha had brought the pair in. She was already on edge with their arrival, and bringing it up would only make matters worse for everyone.

So it became a waiting game as the nurses worked to make sure her injuries were fully recovered before interrogations started. Her partner had already woken up with a few minor injuries, but he was placed in a separate location. It was a strategic ploy on Director Fury's part. If they were as close as it appeared, then they would be furious to know that they were separated. Anger made people do stupid things. Clint had learned that the hard way.

A few more days of this went on before finally the girl began to show signs of life. So far there had been no leads to the explosions in New York City, but everyone in the agency was on high alert. From what Director Fury had gathered, these two had some kind of connection with the explosions, and extracting information was more important now than ever.

Once the girl began to wake, Clint took the initiative to find out more about her. So far they hadn't been able to find any files on her or her partner. It was like the two of them didn't even exist. And that bothered Clint. Something about this didn't feel right. He grabbed a chair and pulled it over once the nurses had left him alone to question her.

The moment her eyes opened was when she started struggling against the restraints holding her down. They weren't easy restraints to break out of, that was for sure. The nurses were worried that despite her injuries, she would try to escape if given the chance. So they decided to ensure her 'safety' by using medal restraints that were cupped around her wrists and legs.

"Hey, take it easy." The girl's eyes widened when she noticed him sitting beside her. And all at once, all hell broke loose as she tried struggling harder to break free. The restraints were cutting through her wrists, leaving nasty wounds that started to bleed. "Look, you're only making things worse for you by struggling," he added, hoping that might be enough to ease her struggling.

She didn't say anything. She just kept glaring at him as if she was expecting him to attack her. The moment he gave up and left was when she relaxed a little more, but only just as the nurses rushed in and addressed her newest injuries.

Clint held back a sigh of frustration as he walked further away from the ICU. Whatever hell this girl had gone through, she wasn't going to trust him anytime soon. This wasn't going to be as easy as he was hoping.

…

Mira didn't want to admit that she was terrified. But the moment she had woken up was when she realized something wasn't right. Rinzler wasn't with her, and she couldn't find any familiar faces. The worst part was seeing that User looking at her as if he was inspecting his prey. She needed to get out of this place. But her body felt numb with pain as the female Users had dressed her with something to cover her newest injuries, courtesy of the restraints that were holding her down.

All at once she was brought back to the coliseum where Clu had held her captive for so many xilacycles. She would never forget that cruel smirk as he unleashed his fury upon her. Or when the real Rinzler would punish her just for what she was. Thoughts of Rinzler and the coliseum only made left her scars burning from the pain of what they put her through. She had a feeling that those memories would never fade away. Much like the scars themselves, Clu's treatment had left mental trauma that would never leave her.

 _How long have I been here_? she wondered as the nurses left her alone, much to her relief. It could have been cycles since that female User brought her in. The worst part was that Cyrus could still be on the loose wreaking havoc throughout the Real World. She knew he wasn't above punishing the Users for whatever fault he saw in them. While he tried deflecting from Clu's vision of 'perfection', that didn't mean he tried forcing those to believe what he believed in. That was why he kept going after anyone who opposed him. Because no matter how hard Cyrus tried, he was still just a soldier working for Clu.

She flinched when the doors to her room suddenly slid open with a loud hissing noise. She didn't need to look twice to see that it was the same male User from earlier. If he thought he was going to get her to talk, then he had another thing coming. Living on the Grid had long-since taught her how to handle interrogation methods that the Users might use on her. She could tell that whatever silent treatment she gave him took a toll on what little patience he had. And it was oddly satisfying watching his face morph from a look of concentration to a deep scowl.

"I thought you could use a snack… if that's the sort of thing you people eat." Mira only glared at him when he offered something she hadn't seen for many, many xilacycles. It looked like something Users would rely on for survival. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking," he suddenly added.

Mira tensed at the thought of accepting the offer. She hadn't realized until now just how weak she really felt. Her energy level was dangerously low. If she didn't get some soon, she might pass out again. But her pride got in the way as she merely refused. She wasn't about to accept energy from another User, especially this one. She knew that he was hoping to use the energy substance as a way of getting her to talk, and she wasn't in any mood or hurry to do so.

The User let out a sigh of frustration when he realized this was getting him nowhere. Mira resisted a triumphant smirk as she guessed he would probably leave right about now. But to her surprise, he wasn't going to budge anytime soon.

"Alright, if you wanna be that way, fine. Let's start from the beginning," he grumbled after grabbing the chair again and pulling it beside her hospital bed. "My name's Clint. I work for an organization called SHIELD, which is where you're at."

She just stared at the User warily, not sure what game he was playing at this time. If he thought this was going to gain her trust, he had another thing coming. But once again, he surprised her by refusing to leave. Annoyance swept through her as she wondered how long he was going to stick around. She had a feeling that he wasn't going to leave until she said something. And at the very least, she was beginning to think that maybe speaking was a good idea. But the familiar spark of fear came bouncing back when she caught the look written across his eyes.

"I get the feeling you're not from around here… or that friend of yours, for that matter." She flinched at the mention of Beck. If they had done anything to hurt him, she would never forgive these Users. "There's no record of your existence on the SHIELD database, strangely enough."

Again she said nothing to that. Her mind went blank the moment he had mentioned Beck and his whereabouts. She couldn't think properly for much longer. Not without it hurting too much. The User was still talking, but he sounded far away, as if her mind was in another place.

Suddenly she was back on the Grid. She was standing beside Beck as a crowd of programs stared at the screens in complete and utter shock. General Tesler's recent news had shaken the entire city. But that wasn't the worst part of his latest news. A cold rush of betrayal surged through Mira as she realized _Tron_ was standing beside Tesler, acting as if all of this was a good thing. And all at once, she felt tears run down her cheeks as she realized once again, this was all her fault.

"I'm sorry," was all she could whisper before blacking out again.

…

"I'm sorry."

Clint stiffened in surprise when he heard the girl speak for the first time. She sounded young, and so broken. The pain in her eyes wasn't from the restraints this time. Something else had caused her to black out, and he was more than determined to find out why.

Once the nurses had rushed in and taken over, he headed down the hallway towards the interrogation room where the girl's partner was being kept. Sure enough, he found Natasha standing there with her arms crossed.

"Your interrogation skills are a little rusty," she said in a somewhat smug tone. "I managed to get him to talk in less than an hour. His name is Beck, and he's been working with the girl for a long time." Natasha frowned when she noticed the look Clint was giving her. "What's wrong?"

"She hasn't gotten any better since you brought her in," he replied, looking towards the room where the girl's partner was sitting. He seemed perfectly fine, maybe a little shaken from Natasha's interrogation, but fine otherwise. "Something's wrong with her, and there's nothing the doctors or the nurses can do to help."

Natasha looked into the room where Beck was being held thoughtfully. The girl was proving to be more of a hassle than she first imagined. It would go against all protocol, but it was obvious the two of them worked best together. Reluctantly, she agreed to let Beck talk to the girl and see whether that would help improve her health.

Once she had overridden security protocol, Clint was allowed inside the room. Beck's eyes widened in surprise upon his arrival, and for the first time, Clint was able to make out a few bruises, and what looked like a black eye. Clint nearly rolled his eyes when he realized that was the only way she would get the kid talking. Even if it was a cruel method, it seemed to do the trick.

"Had to get him to talk somehow," was all Natasha said with the slightest shrugs.

"Alright, I'm going to get straight to the point," Clint sighed once she was gone. Beck was still tense from his earlier encounter with Natasha, but at least he relaxed a little once he realized she wasn't there. "Your friend's in trouble. She hasn't fully recovered since she was brought in, and she's deteriorating fast."

"Look, I know she can be stubborn but… what do you want me to do?" Beck asked, his voice oddly quiet as he refused to make eye contact.

Clint was reading his every movement, though and he could see that the poor guy was shocked with this latest news. Sensing that he cared about his partner gave Clint a few clues he needed. At least they had some way of hopefully getting the girl to talk if she recovered. And that was a big 'if'.

"I want you to go in there and see if that'll give her some kind of breakthrough," Clint replied, sounding more frustrated with himself than anything else.

For a moment, it looked as if Beck was going to argue when he thought better of it. Obviously the safety his partner meant more to him than his own safety. Clint would have felt the same way with his partner a few years back. Now things were different as he led Beck down the hall to the ICU. One of the nurses who was checking on an IV fluid bag stopped upon noticing their arrival.

"She hasn't eaten in quite a long time," the nurse explained once they stepped inside. "I'm not even sure how she's managed to survive for this long."

"Give us a moment," Clint said to the nurse, who stiffened in surprise before nodding. She turned to leave, casting Beck a curious look along the way. He hardly noticed as he stared at the girl in utter shock. "So, does she have a name?"

Beck shot him a glare before answering.

"She does, but she wouldn't trust you enough to tell you," he snapped, sounding both tired and irritated.

Clint rose an eyebrow at that, having already guessed it was something along those lines. What he did next seemed to take Beck by surprise. He left Beck alone in the room, hoping that would be enough for the girl to open up just a little and start recovering.

…

Beck shot the male User a glare as he realized where this was going. After his last encounter with the female User, he was beginning to wonder if there was anyone they could trust. All he could think of at the moment though was making sure _she_ was okay. Taking a deep breath, Beck leaned forward and gently had his hand entwined with hers. Seeing her in this condition only made him hate these Users all the more.

 _We were perfectly fine before they decided to attack_ , he thought bitterly, thinking of their recent encounter with Cyrus.

"You really are just as stubborn as Tron," he whispered. And that much was true. He had never met anyone who could be as stubborn as the security program. Eventually, he resorted to telling her stories about the Grid when he realized she wouldn't wake up anytime soon. She looked paler than ever, which scared him. He hadn't realized the female User had hurt her this much. "Do you remember the time we blew up Clu's statue? I almost wish we could've seen the look on Tesler's face when that happened."

He couldn't help but smile at the memory of when their chutes had almost failed. Or the time when they were on the island helping Paige get off before it derezzed. They had been through so much over the cycles. And seeing her now only made him feel worse. Suddenly he found himself wishing they were back on the Grid, fighting against the Occupation like old times. As he started talking about Mara and Zed, wondering what they were up to nowadays, he realized that she was beginning to stir.

"They'd both think you're bitbrained," she managed to say in a shaky voice. Beck's eyes widened in surprise before he realized what she was implying. Her eyes were open, and while she looked utterly exhausted, at least she was alive. "Hey," she whispered, still struggling to speak. "How many near-death experiences have I had already?" she added.

She was already looking around the room warily to make sure that no one was watching. Beck didn't bother mentioning that the male User was keeping a close eye on them; he was probably stunned to see that she had woken up at all.

"I think I've lost track," he replied with a knowing smirk. Far too many for his liking, but he would never say that out loud. Being the Renegade and the Rogue meant that they had to put their lives at risk. That was just part of the charm of the Grid. "We were brought in by those Users… they ambushed us when we were tracking down Cyrus."

"I figured as much," Mira muttered with a roll of her eyes. Now she was beginning to sound like her old self. "It wouldn't surprise me if they were spying on us right at this moment."

As if her words had summoned him, the male User chose that moment to step in and ruin their moment alone. Both Mira and Beck tensed at his presence, and the User crossed his arms before speaking.

"You have a knack for getting yourself into trouble, it seems," he simply said. Beck exchanged a worried look with Mira. Had he overheard everything they said? "So, you wanna explain to me what the Grid is, or am I going to have to extract the information from you?"

"Do you really think we would make it that easy?" Mira snapped, her voice getting stronger as she glared back.

Beck didn't miss the cold exchange, or the fact that she seemed to be regaining strength, fast.

"No, I wouldn't." The male User didn't look too pleased with his progress. Beck couldn't help but wince as he remembered the way the female User had 'extracted' information from him. He could still feel the pain in his left eye where she had punched him. "There've been recent attacks throughout New York," he went on as if none of this mattered. "The only clue we have is that you're somehow connected with them."

Mira exchanged a startled look with Beck. One thought and one name crossed his mind, and she was thinking the same thing.

"We wouldn't do anything to hurt Users," Beck replied this time, ignoring the urge to glare back when the male User's eyes widened in surprise at the way he spoke. "But we do know someone who would, without a second thought."

"Wouldn't be the first time he's tried committing genocide," Mira put in.

"So you're saying this guy is the real deal," the male User said, sounding more worried this time. Beck nodded as he looked at Mira worriedly. "Thanks for the intel."

Once he left them, Beck had a really bad feeling that these Users were going to throw themselves in a losing battle. Mira seemed to be thinking the same thing, because what she said next sent chills through him.

"They're going to need all the help they can get," she whispered.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

It felt like it had been cycles since Mira was able to move around freely on her own. Finally, the female Users who could easily pass for medics on the Grid had declared her healthy and took the restraints off of her wrists. They claimed that the restraints were there for her own safety after she tried struggling against them upon waking up. As much as she resented the Users who had placed her in that room for the first place, she was grateful to be released from said restraints. She couldn't feel happier as she wandered around the medical room and tried taking everything in at once.

Things weren't much different in this room than they would have been on the Grid. There was similar equipment scattered throughout the room, along with a table that had several syringes and other objects. The female Users had been friendly enough, often telling her that she needed to eat in order to stay alive. It took her a while to understand that the substance they were giving her was similar to energy. Only it had a taste to it, something she wasn't used to.

She hadn't seen the male User in some time, but the female with red, curly hair would often stop by to visit. Mira wasn't sure what it was about this User that put her on edge. But the cold way she spoke and the fact that she was tense all the time didn't help. Eventually, Mira began telling her stories about the Grid and what it was like growing up in a place like that. She wasn't sure what had led to those discussions, but it felt oddly good to get everything off her chest.

These Users weren't as bad as she had first thought. While she didn't trust them, the female User had trusted her enough with her name. Natasha Romanoff. Somehow, the name seemed oddly familiar. Mira couldn't shake off the feeling that she had seen Natasha more than once in her dreams. She recalled seeing the redhead in her dreams on numerous occasions when she was on her own. Though memories of those dreams were vague, she could still clearly make out the same green eyes that Natasha had.

It took a while for Mira to begin to understanding that Users weren't referred to as Users in the Real World. The hardest struggle for her was reverting back to the ways of a User. She did not want to admit that this was the last thing she wanted. Often times she would catch herself saying the wrong terms, and the worst part was figuring out how time worked in the Real World. Adjusting to life on the Grid had been difficult enough without having to readjust to life in the Real World.

"Time works differently on the Grid," she explained warily when Natasha had asked why it was so difficult for her to comprehend. "Instead of days or hours, we work on cycles. And there really is no day or night."

Mira bit the bottom of her lip as she wondered if there was even a sunrise here in the Real World. She and Beck never had the chance to see what a real sunrise looked like since arriving in the Real World. During the battle, most of the sky had either been blocked out by the skyscrapers or the creatures trying to invade the city.

The thought of what a sunrise looked like suddenly left Mira wondering if they would ever see one. Or if they would ever see a sunset for that matter. She knew that being stuck in this facility hadn't helped matters. Being surrounded by white walls only made her want to escape that much more. She hated the feeling of walls closing in around her. It reminded her too much of life back in Clu's prison xilacycles ago. It might have happened long ago, but the memories never faded.

"That must have been difficult." Mira didn't miss the look Natasha had given her as they talked. The redhead was clearly uneasy around her, but she hadn't made a point to avoid her entirely. And Mira found herself appreciating the fact that Natasha was willing to talk. Though, she suspected this was their way of getting information out of her. "I can't imagine what the world would be like without a sunrise, or sunset."

"You get used to it," Mira replied with a shrug. "I think the hardest part was trying not to get caught during the curfew."

That much was true. Mira could still remember the first time she had been caught during a curfew. That was when she was captured by Rinzler and taken into captivity under Clu. A shiver ran through her as bitter memories of the coliseum and Clu's cruel smirk suddenly flashed across her vision. A shiver of unease swept through her as she tried pushing the memories aside. She'd woken up more than a few times with nightmares of Clu hovering in front of her, waiting to deal the final blow. She didn't have the heart to explain where the nightmares came from, especially when she saw how on edge Natasha was with her already.

According to Natasha, they had been stuck in this facility for little more than two weeks. Mira had a difficult time grasping over the fact that she had been out cold for one week. She'd been out of the ICU for a week, but the nurses had said she shouldn't strain herself. Despite their warning, that didn't stop her from taking advantage of her newfound freedom. She tried exploring the facility as best as she could, using what spare time she had alone to her advantage. As she started exploring more of the facility (Natasha was spending more time with Beck, teaching him the basics of what it meant to be a User), Mira could feel eyes boring through her.

She suddenly felt self-conscious under their stares. It didn't take a genius to know why they were staring at her. A mixture of horror and sympathy filled their eyes when she walked past them. She did her best to ignore them, but eventually, she stopped and decided it was best to stay hidden. It was bad enough that she had dealt with programs staring at her with the same mixed expressions when she ran into them throughout the Grid. To see Users act the same way left her shivering with unease.

Unfortunately, that was how Mira found herself staring at a mirror when she finally saw her reflection for the first time. And all of a sudden, she could understand why the people she walked past were staring at her. Mira felt a chill rush down her arms when she saw the scars for the first time. All the patchwork in the world wouldn't hide the ones that were visible along her face, arms and legs.

 _They must think I'm some kind of freak_ , she realized. She hadn't realized just how _ugly_ the scars and welts looked until now. It was a wonder that they hadn't stopped her to ask where the scars came from. Her heart suddenly wrenched at the thought of how other Users would handle seeing them once they were finally let out of this facility. That was when she broke down for the first time in days, shattering the mirror in the process.

She couldn't take the stress of knowing that Cyrus was still out there. She couldn't take the fact that she had abandoned everyone on the Grid, and that she had left them to suffer under Clu's tyranny. She had never felt more helpless than now.

It wasn't until she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her that she realized she had broken down. The world felt as if it was spinning around her. She didn't even register who was holding her until finally recognizing the warmth and concern of Beck's voice.

"It's okay," was all he said.

He was holding on to her, making sure she didn't collapse under the weight of exhaustion and depression. This was not the way she had wanted him to see her. Though she knew that he had seen her in a worse state, it didn't make her feel any better. She knew she probably looked like a mess, and she doubted that things would ever change. Maybe it was better if he saw the real her. It would save her from having to explain how much of a mess she really was deep down.

"What happened?" Natasha's voice sounded seconds later, and her eyes widened when she saw the state that Mira was in.

"I've never seen her like this," Beck admitted, and that only made her feel guiltier than ever. It was the second time she had ever broken down in front of anyone other than Quorra, or Beck himself. Natasha's eyes narrowed when she saw the mirror, noting that whatever had happened was when she had seen her reflection. Mira could hardly make out what he was saying, but she knew it had something to do with her past. "… never had an easy past." And then he said something she wasn't anticipating, "she doesn't trust anyone, for that reason."

"I know a little of what that's like," Natasha replied in understanding. She looked at the girl warily as she began to relax in Beck's arms, burying her face into his chest. "It seems like she trusts you."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't always like that," Beck explained with the slightest smirks as he recalled their first encounter. "I think she would've bitten my head off if I gave her the chance when we first met."

 _Was I really that hard on him_? Mira thought back to the first time they had met. General Tesler had just taken over Argon City. Able had offered her a place to work at his garage, and Beck had just lost his friend, Bodhi to one of Tesler's soldiers. Neither of them had been too thrilled upon their first encounter when Able had forced Beck to look after her. And it had taken cycles for her to actually warm up to him. Even after that, she never fully trusted Beck. While she trusted him more than she trusted Tron, it was still never the same. Especially after he decided to start seeing Paige.

"So, what's the real reason you're here?" Natasha suddenly asked.

She leaned against the doorway as she watched the pair, noticing that Beck hadn't moved yet.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

It didn't take long for Mira to recall the fact that they were here to close the Portals opening throughout the Outlands. The only way they were going to succeed in that mission was if they told the Users why they were there. She suddenly wondered if they would believe them in the first place. After everything that had happened, Mira had a feeling that these Users would find the possibilities of the Grid being real believable.

"We just fought an entire army of aliens a few weeks ago," Natasha pointed out. "Try me."

Mira wasn't happy with idea of sharing intel with Users, especially Users she couldn't bring herself to completely trust. But telling Natasha might save them the grief of looking for a computer strong enough to withstand the power of the Grid. They had already lost valuable time as it was wasting it in the facility. There was no telling whether or not Clu found a Portal. She knew in the back of her mind that he wouldn't hesitate to take over the Real World if he was given the chance.

"There are Portals opening throughout the Outlands," she suddenly explained after finding her voice. She hadn't realized until now how shaken she sounded, and she didn't miss the look of surprise Beck gave her as she did start speaking. "If Clu finds his way to the Real World, it's game over, for everyone."

That seemed to catch Natasha's attention.

"Just what do you know about this… Clu?"

Mira exchanged an anxious look with Beck, wondering just how they would explain everything in such a short amount of time.

And so they tried to explain what Clu's motives were as quickly as possible, and without giving away too much information about the Grid. Mira had already started telling Natasha stories about the Grid, but that was all they were as far as she was concerned. She couldn't bring herself to imagine what would happen if these Users found themselves trapped on the Grid.

Once they were finished explaining, Natasha looked at them thoughtfully. This was exactly what SHIELD had been looking for. Intel on why these strange people were here, and whether they were here to do harm than good. And fortunately, for all that they had suffered from, it was the latter.

"I can only think of one person who might have a computer strong enough to support your cause," Natasha explained after giving their story some thought. Despite her earlier misgivings, she believed them. It didn't take a genius to realize that these two had probably seen more hell than anyone could imagine. "And, as much as I hate to say it, he's the only one who might be able to help you."

…

"Looks like you came back unsuccessful." Natasha frowned when she found Clint in the infirmary, covered in bruises and fresh cuts from his recent mission. "How bad was it?"

"He took out most of the power in New York City," Clint retorted, sounding angry with himself and more pissed off with the attacker in question. "He kept babbling on and on about how useless the 'Renegades' are." Natasha already had a feeling that the 'Renegades' had something to do with the girl and Beck. "What happened with you? Looks like you've been through hell."

"That girl… there's something about her that makes me feel uneasy," Natasha admitted. What worried her more than anything was how similar the girl looked to her. There was no denying the similarities between them, both personality-wise and appearance-wise. She tried brushing off the uneasy thoughts, knowing that they needed to settle whatever was happening with the pair fast. "She doesn't trust anyone… she started talking, but she refused to give me her name."

"Well, at least you got her to talk," Clint replied with a knowing smirk. "Even I couldn't do that. She seems awfully close to Beck, though."

Natasha thought back to the way Beck was so careful around the girl. He had provided comfort for her that no one else could. He obviously knew the girl better than they first thought, and maybe even better than the girl thought.

"There's more to it than that," Natasha suddenly added, glancing out the window looking into the hallway. "When I spoke to them, they said they were only here to close these portals on a place called the Grid."

Clint rose an eyebrow at that. He remembered hearing Beck talk about their past experience on the Grid. At the time he'd thought they were just stories to amuse the girl. Maybe there was something more to them than they first realized.

Finding out where the girl came from had been their primary goal. But after hearing those stories about the Grid and everything else, he had a feeling their lives were about to get more complicated. If what Natasha said was true, this 'Clu' character was just as much of a threat as the other intruder. The fact that the girl had been human and that she had suffered from as much as she had only left them wondering who else could have suffered the same fate.

"Do you really think they're telling the truth?" Clint asked warily.

"It might be best to get them out of this facility," Natasha admitted. Her mind went back to the way the girl had broken down. "I've already spoken to Director Fury about it, and he's awaiting approval from the Council."

"You know they'll never approve," Clint scoffed at the thought of having to deal with _them_. He'd already dealt with Fury's wrath, and that was a whole different story. "I say we just go without mentioning anything. We can deal with Fury's wrath later, once we get things sorted out with these two."

Natasha wasn't too thrilled with the idea of going behind Director Fury's back, but Clint did have a good point. Those two would never get to see a better future again if they didn't start cooperating soon. Eventually, she gave in and nodded in agreement.

"I've already contacted Stark," she explained once their decision was made.

"Oh, I bet he's thrilled with the idea of having more company," Clint muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"He wasn't too happy when he received the call." That much she would agree with. But after seeing what those two had gone through, having a normal day or two might actually be a good thing for them. "If they have any intel on the attacker who's been leaving his mark throughout the city, then this might be our only chance to find it."

* * *

 **AN: There's that chapter... given Mira's condition that she's in, I'd say her reaction to seeing her reflection for the first time was understandable. Things are going to get more interesting (hopefully) from here on :)**

 **Retrokill - XD It's okay, I'm glad you're reviewing at all. At least it shows someone's interested in the story :) They did indeed get closer... though, they've always been close. If you mean Beck and Mira ;) As for her heritage, all will be explained later on :P**


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

She couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen. At first everything had gone perfectly fine as she swerved in and out of traffic on her light cycle. Traffic itself was heavier than usual as programs were finally free of their curfew. For the first time in what felt like xilacycles, things on the Grid were finally peaceful.

It almost felt too good to be true. And as she got closer to Argon Square, she could finally see why. Things weren't as good as they looked. Upon closer inspection, she could see that programs were suffering. Their light lines were dull. Something about the way they moved only made her more suspicious. It was like they couldn't think for themselves as they headed off to who knew where.

Mira got off her light cycle and saw what the reason behind their sickness was. Her eyes narrowed with hate when she saw Clu standing on a platform, arms around his back with a cruel smirk across his face. That look he gave her would always haunt her, especially when she saw how satisfied he was with tormenting programs.

"Destroy the city," she heard him say to one of his commanders. "It needs to be cleansed of imperfection."

The moment he said that was when chaos followed. Mira felt the ground tremble from beneath as an explosion shook the city. Her heart raced with panic as she heard the screams of agony that followed. Flames erupted from the ground, churning buildings and lifted programs from where they stood. Mira could only watch in horror as an entire city, filled with innocent programs, was destroyed and turned into nothing but pixels and debris.

She couldn't move even if she wanted to. Her body felt numb with shock as she dropped to the ground, fighting the urge to scream in frustration. Clu was going to pay for this. He wouldn't get away with genocide. These programs didn't deserve to die the way they had, not under his tyranny.

As the dust began to settle, Mira had to blink a few times and let out a choking cough. By the time her vision had recovered, she found herself back in the medical bay where the Users were keeping her. She looked around warily before noticing that she wasn't alone. Her eyes narrowed when she realized the male User from a few days ago was back. His face was unreadable as he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed while waiting for her to recover from her initial surprise.

"You were talking in your sleep," he muttered in an accusing tone. "Have a bad dream?" Mira simply ignored him and looked away. His eyes narrowed for a moment when he realized she wouldn't say anything. "What is it with you? You're more than willing to talk with Natasha, and that friend of yours. But around me, you might as well be mute"

She blinked in surprise when the doors swung open. As if his words had summoned her, Natasha arrived a few nanocycles later with Beck standing behind her. He didn't look all that happy, as if something she had said ticked him off. Mira narrowed her eyes as she wondered what had happened between them. After talking to Natasha for the last few cycles, she knew the redhead wasn't easy to get along with. But Natasha made a point to at least take her time getting to know them, even if she was forced to do so.

"We're moving out," Natasha announced, earning a look of surprise from the male User. "Fury gave us the green light. Stark's tower is the only safe place for them, for the time being."

Mira felt her blood run cold at that. No place would ever feel safe. She knew that now. But seeing that they really had no choice in the better, for now, they would have to go with these Users and put their trust in them.

"What happened?" Beck asked when he noticed how shaken Mira was. She flinched under his questioning gaze and looked away. "Mira, you know things aren't going to get any better unless you actually tell me what's going on," he suddenly added, sounding more frustrated than ever.

"It was just a nightmare," she snapped.

She hadn't meant to sound so angry, but seeing the hurt look in Beck's eyes made her realize she had gone too far.

She was about to apologize when the Users from earlier had led them to what looked like a bigger version of a light jet. Mira's eyes widened in surprise as she realized this really _was_ a bigger light jet. Maybe a little fancier and it probably functioned better, but they were one in the same. The only difference was, as she got inside followed by Beck, she noticed that the control panel up front was very different. She wasn't sure if she could fly this thing so easily.

"We should be there within an hour or two," Natasha explained as she got into what Mira guessed was the cockpit.

The male User was right beside her, keeping an eye on what dangers lay ahead of them. Unease swept through Mira as she wondered what sort of dangers loomed ahead of them. She couldn't imagine what was worse than fighting those creatures that had invaded the city, or fighting Cyrus.

"Where are we going?" Beck asked this time, shuffling so that he was sitting just across the other side.

"You'll see when we get there," the male User replied. "Just a fair warning, though, he isn't the easiest person to get along with."

Considering what she was dealing with now, Mira figured that wouldn't be much of a problem. She couldn't look Beck in the eye as she thought of her nightmare. Would that really happen to Argon now that they were gone? She had no doubt that Clu could pull off such a stunt… but something told her he would lose more than he would gain. Clu was smart enough to derezz a few programs and make it seem like it was a good thing. Destroying an entire city was a whole different story.

To her relief, the trip to wherever they were headed didn't take nearly as long as she was expecting. She would have thought maybe this would be some kind of punishment after the way she had snapped at Beck. Luckily she didn't have to face him right away. The jet landed on a pad overlooking the city. Once it had landed, they all climbed out to see that most of the damage had already been cleaned up from the battle two mylacycles ago.

"They clean up fast," she remarked upon seeing how quickly some of the buildings were reconstructed.

It was almost like the battle had never happened. Mira chewed the bottom of her lip when she noticed how quickly the Users were returning to their normal lives. She had a feeling that they were trying to act as if nothing happened; it was their way of forgetting that something traumatic had happened in the first place.

"That's SHIELD for you… one minute everything's falling to pieces, the next, they act like it's never even happened."

Mira looked at the male User in surprise when he said that. Wasn't this 'SHIELD' thing a company he worked for? She wondered what would make him say that. It was obvious that he and Natasha were loyal to the agency. Yet, his response made her realize there was more going on than they let on.

 _Everyone has their secrets_ , she decided silently. That was why she couldn't bring herself to trust these people. While Natasha trusted her enough to explain how things worked in the Real World, something about her still put Mira on edge. The male User wasn't much better, but at least he didn't always look or act so tense around her.

They were led across the landing pad to the huge building that towered above the city. Mira looked around warily as she saw that most of the building was still in shambles from the battle. A lot of it had already been repaired, but there were still areas covered in debris and thick bands of what looked like crossing tape.

"The tower took the full brunt of the battle," Natasha explained when she noticed their confused expressions.

Mira nodded in understanding, having guessed that already. That was when she realized they weren't alone. Someone else was in the building, and they were approaching. She tensed upon their arrival, but the User who approached them this time didn't have a threatening demeanor. Instead his posture was relaxed as he studied the two newcomers curiously.

"Well, most of it's fully repaired," the User in question put in, shooting Natasha a coy look. "So, these are the two… _interesting_ people you brought in?" Mira flinched when he studied her most of all. "Is it just me, or are there two Romanoff's in the building?"

"Don't even go there," the male User hissed under his breath, sounding more tense than usual.

 _We don't look_ that _much alike, do we_? Mira cast a sidelong glance at Natasha, noticing the similarities herself. She didn't want to admit that she had the same red hair as Natasha, or the lean muscles that were visible. It was bad enough she overheard some of the Users at the facility comparing her to Natasha. She had a feeling that those assumptions wouldn't go away anytime soon, not unless she managed to prove there were no relations between them.

"So, why exactly do you need my super computer?" the User tilted his head to one side as Natasha explained the situation they were in. "Huh… that actually makes sense, in a way. I've been following Flynn's work before he disappeared… he was always a bit eccentric, but I always knew something like his world could exist."

"You can't possibly be serious," the male User standing beside Natasha asked, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Hey, I have a lot of time on my hands," the other male User replied in self-defense.

Mira bit the bottom of her lip as she realized just how popular Flynn really was in the Real World. She wondered if these Users would feel the same, if they knew just what sort of chaos he had created on the Grid. She had never blamed Flynn for being stuck on the Grid; that was her own stupid mistake for following him in the first place. But she knew that things could have gone very differently if he had thought his plans through in the future.

Soon they were led down a flight of stairs, to another part of the building. Just as the other male User had said, this part of the building was fully repaired from the battle. Mira was impressed with how quickly he had cleaned things up, almost like it had never happened. But then she began to notice tiny dents covering the walls, and she wondered if these were created by the User himself for whatever reason.

"This is where the magic happens," the User explained as he typed in a few codes on a panel. The doors slid open shortly after, revealing an impressive room filled with equipment and tech of all sorts. "Go ahead and gape, not too many people are blessed enough to see my wonderful work."

She only rolled her eyes at that remark. Something about the way this guy talked rubbed off the wrong way. The smugness in his tone was definitely something that made her wish she could slap the look off his face. It was clear he expected everyone to bow down before him whenever he spoke. He reminded her a bit of the way Pavel had acted whenever he was put in charge, and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes at him at the thought.

"Did you build all of this?" Beck asked, sounding impressed with all that he'd taken in already.

"Yep," the User replied. "All of these suits and all of the tech is hand-made. The suits are kind of my thing."

"We're going to need the recoder," Mira whispered, ignoring the fact that the User kept staring at her.

Beck looked at her in surprise before pulling the device out. If they did want to get this done right, they needed a tool that could manipulate the code from any machine, even User-made machines.

"Here's the super computer," the User announced, referring to a huge looking computer monitor in front of them. Mira rose an eyebrow in surprise when she noticed how similar it was to the system Tron had used in the safehouse. "So, what sort of device is that? It doesn't look like something I made," he added, giving the device a curious look.

"Every mechanic gets one on the Grid," Beck explained. "It comes in handy when we need to repair a light cycle quickly, or anything else for that matter."

Mira chose to ignore the look all three Users gave them as Beck handed her the tool. She had worked with code long enough to know exactly what she needed to do. And the moment she began modifying the code was when everyone gaped in amazement as images flickered across the screen.

Nanocycles seemed to pass before finally, images of Argon City appeared. Mira's eyes widened in relief when she realized that it was still intact. But as she inspected the city further, not missing Beck's look of surprise, she realized that no programs were around. She prayed that these programs had found shelter before Clu struck the city and destroyed it.

"Home," she whispered after letting out a sigh of relief. Beck placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, almost as if this was his way of providing support. "The Portals are appearing throughout the Outlands… he was right about the energy levels being way too high."

"Imagine what would happen if Clu found one," Beck added, shaking his head at the thought.

 _Nothing would end well with that_ , she thought bitterly.

"That's the Grid?" the male User scoffed as she typed in a few more codes.

"No, that's the Outlands," Mira retorted, her voice curt and to the point. "The Grid itself is a lot bigger than this." She bit the bottom of her lip again – a nasty habit she had formed while on her own – before glancing warily at Beck. "Do you think there's a way to close them from here?"

"Last time you used your disk to close the Portal," Beck explained with a shrug.

She held back a sigh of frustration after realizing he was right. They didn't have their identity disks in this world. That made closing the Portals all the more difficult. But she had one idea that just might work. If her theory was right, then things would work perfectly as long as she relaxed and held her hand over the tool that had opened up the computer. Taking a deep breath, Mira placed her hand over the tool and braced herself for whatever might happen next.

The moment her hand made contact with the tool was when she felt a stabbing pain rush through her entire body. She held back a cry of shock from the impact, and soon images flashed across her vision. Images she would have rather kept buried.

"Maybe it's time we ended things, before anyone realizes you're here…"

Clu's words would forever haunt her memories. She knew that despite the fact that he seemed far away, he was closer than she would have liked.

It felt like microcycles had passed before the images and pain began to fade. By then, her whole body felt numb from the pain, and her legs began to wobble. Beck caught her just before she passed out, losing consciousness for what felt like the umpteenth time.

…

For a moment, everyone just stood there, dumbfounded as they tried to make out what just happened. A few more seconds of awkward silence followed until Tony finally broke it.

"Holy shit!"

"Yeah, pretty much took the words right out of my mouth," Clint muttered crossly.

What that girl had gone through… it was a wonder she trusted anyone at all. No one should ever have to endure the kind of torture she had suffered from. Even Beck hadn't seen the full extent of her history with Clu, and what he had seen only made him feel worse about the way he'd treated her earlier. A fresh wave of guilt crashed over him as he thought of the many times he'd pushed her or turned her away when she needed him.

"Come on, let's get her to a bed," Natasha suggested.

Throughout the whole thing, she'd been quiet up until now. Natasha was no stranger to torture. But even she was stunned to see what this girl had suffered from. And what made it worse was the fact that this Clu character wasn't the only one who had mistreated her.

Once she was safe in a bed and secured, the others were more than relieved to get away from the tension of earlier. Beck stayed with her that night, and he couldn't shake off the feeling of dread after seeing everything Mira had suffered from. He wasn't going to let Clu hurt her again. Not when they had gone through so much.

* * *

 **AN: And than there's that chapter! I have to say, I'm loving the schedule I've set up for updates. Thanks again Retrokill for your review! It's always appreciated :)**

 **Retrokill - Ah, how I love Stark's snark :P If that's even how you're supposed to say it. Either way, it'll be fun writing out how he and Mira get along.**


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

The first thing she noticed was a dull, throbbing pain in the back of her head when she came to. That she was expecting. By now she had gotten used to waking up with some kind of bodily pain. What she wasn't expecting was to wake up in some strange room. Or with a blinding light flooding through the windows. Mira straightened up a little, jaw gaping open as she realized that blinding light was actually something she had not seen in many, many xilacycles.

 _I can't believe I've forgotten what a sunrise looks like_! The sunrise was beautiful, and it was something she would never want to forget again.

Once she was fully awake, she realized that someone had placed her on a bed. That was when she remembered what had happened the other cycle. Holding back a groan of annoyance, she realized with a start that those Users had seen all of her memories. Her skin crawled with unease as she wondered what they would say upon seeing everything that had happened to her. She knew they would have a few choice words for the way she acted on the Grid. And she suddenly found herself wondering how they would react to the way programs had treated her on the Grid.

She decided to see if anyone else was awake. If this was the sunrise, then it was likely that everyone else would be fast asleep yet. At least, that was what she hoped for. She wasn't entirely sure if she was in any hurry to face anyone just yet, especially after what had happened the other cycle. When she opened her door and peered outside, she was surprised to find herself standing in a hallway.

"The common-room is to your right, Ma'am." Mira almost leaped out of her skin when she heard the new voice that spoke randomly. She looked around worriedly to see if anyone had been watching her this whole time, only for the voice to go on, "I am afraid you will not find me. I am programmed to meet the needs of anyone staying with Mr. Stark."

Mr. Stark… that name sounded so familiar. She couldn't help but blink in surprise when the voice mentioned 'program'. She hadn't thought she would hear that term used by Users again. Then again, the Real World seemed to be full of surprises.

"Do you have a name I can call you by?" she asked curiously.

"His name's Jarvis." Again, Mira nearly leaped out of her skin at the voice of the User from yesterday. Her eyes narrowed with annoyance when she saw him leaning against the wall, smirking in amusement at her reaction. "It stands for, Just a Rather Very Intelligent System," he added casually. "You two might have met already."

"I am afraid we have not, Mr. Stark," Jarvis replied.

"We're meeting in the kitchen for some breakfast," Mr. Stark explained once Jarvis was finished speaking. "You're welcome to join us… if you do those kinds of things."

 _What an arrogant jerk_ , she thought with a roll of her eyes once he was gone. Though the thought of getting some energy did sound good. Plus, it would give her a chance to find out just what the Users had seen the other day. She hoped they hadn't seen all of her memories. The last thing she wanted was for any of them to know what Clu had really done to her.

She followed the directions Jarvis had given her, and soon enough she found her way in what Mr. Stark had called the 'kitchen'. The moment she arrived was when she noticed something strange. Something _smelled_ good. So good that her stomach was actually growling in response. Embarrassment washed over her as she realized that scent was something that didn't happen very often on the Grid. It was just one of those senses she hadn't used very often, or didn't need.

"Good morning." Mira blinked in surprise when the male User said that, acting as if nothing from the previous night had happened. "Natasha was able to find a surprise for you outside the tower. You can stop by and see what it is after getting something to eat."

Okay, something was definitely wrong here. They were acting so… _normal_. She wasn't used to it, especially when Mr. Stark handed her a plate of some round, brownish fluffy things that smelled really good.

"Don't tell me you don't know what pancakes are?" he asked in disbelief.

Pancakes… that actually did sound familiar now that she thought about it. But that sense of familiarity ended the moment Mr. Stark handed her strange looking objects, one with pointy ends and the other with a sharper edge to it.

"Exactly how long have you been on the Grid?" the male User asked as he used the objects to cut the pancakes into smaller pieces.

Mira frowned as she realized what they were suggesting. Since she started living on the Grid, she forgot most of what her life was like in the Real World was like. Surviving on the Grid meant she had to learn quickly and grow up fast. Any chances of having a normal life were crushed when Clu took over.

"Eleven xilacycles," she explained with a shrug. Both of them just stared at her blankly, and she let out a sigh of frustration. "I guess that would be years, in User terms."

"Okay, this is going to take a while," Mr. Stark muttered after realizing the fact that she knew so little of her own world. "Where's your boyfriend? He should be up by now."

Almost as fast as he had said that, she suddenly slapped him across the face, earning a look of surprise from both him and the male User.

"He is not my boyfriend!" she snapped, her tone suddenly icy cold as she glared at them.

"Wow, and here I thought Romanoff was the one with the mean-slap," Mr. Stark grumbled crossly while rubbing his cheek. Mira only leaned against the back of her seat and crossed her arms. "Alright, how about this. We each take an hour or two to explain how things work in this world. By the end of the day, you should have everything memorized."

That actually made a lot of sense, as much as Mira hated to admit it. She wasn't sure whether she would stay in this world much longer once Cyrus was taken care of. But learning about all of the things she had missed out on might be a good thing. She knew that it was a good survival tactic to understand what was going on throughout the Real World, even if she didn't plan on sticking around.

Fortunately, it didn't take Beck much longer to wake up. Mira held back a sigh of relief when she saw a familiar face.

"Hey," she whispered once he sat beside her.

She didn't miss the fact that he was staring out the window. By now, the sun was higher in the sky, but the reflection of it could still be made against the floor. The sight was something that she never wanted to forget. And something told her that Beck felt the same way.

"Hey."

Awkward silence followed. The two Users had left them for the time being.

"How much did they see?" Mira couldn't help but look away as she imagined what sort of horrors those Users had seen through her memories.

"Enough to realize that we aren't a threat," Beck replied, though she noticed that he kept looking at her anxiously. "Look, we all saw what you went through with… Clu." She instinctively flinched at the mention of Clu's name. "What he did was unforgivable."

"It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to abuse me, mentally and physically," she muttered under her breath, recalling a few of the gangs she had run across on the Grid.

Beck looked like he was about to say something else when the Users chose that moment to step in. Mira narrowed her eyes when Mr. Stark clasped his hands together. His enthusiasm was enough for her to try and look for some kind of escape route. She had a feeling he was going to get a kick out of seeing how they would cope with learning about the Real World. Or in her case, re-learning everything.

"Right, first thing's first, you two need to learn the basics of this world," he announced cheekily, earning an eye-roll from the male User standing beside him with his arms crossed. "How much do you know?" he looked at Mira pointedly, who only shrugged in response.

"Not much," she replied. "A few things are still a little fuzzy, but I've had to figure things out on the Grid on my own."

That wasn't entirely true. Castor had taught her most of the basics, like how time worked on the Grid and how to use her disk as a weapon. Mostly everything else was self-taught.

"This is probably going to take more than a few days, Tony," the male User muttered crossly.

Mira's eyes widened when he said Mr. Stark's first name. Tony Stark. Now she understood why the name had sounded so familiar! She had heard stories about the infamous Howard Stark long before arriving on the Grid. And Tony Stark was just as infamous, often getting into trouble and being placed on the front page of the newspaper headlines.

"True, but it'll be fun to see how they cope," Tony replied with a grin.

This time it was Mira's turn to roll her eyes. She suspected Tony was going to get a good laugh or two out of this new form of torture. In the end, learning about the way Users acted and their names wasn't all that traumatizing. Mira soon learned that the male User's name was Clint, which she suspected he had already told her, but she had ignored him, and the female User she already knew as Natasha. Surprisingly, none of them had seen Natasha since last night.

"She had some loose ends to tie up," Clint simply explained when she had asked where the agent was.

He seemed a little uneasy mentioning her whereabouts. That only made Mira all the more suspicious.

Eventually they were taught the basics of how time worked in the Real World. It wasn't all that different compared to the Grid. But instead of cycles, it was hours, minutes and days. Clint was, surprisingly, the most patient of the two as he waited for them both to understand everything they were taught.

By the time they were finished, Mira's mind was on information overload. The throbbing pain in the back of her head returned. She desperately needed some time alone. And the only place she could do that was in the room she had woken up in.

…

Director Fury was less than happy with Natasha's report when she sent the files to him. These kids had been through much more than even the agency could have imagined. The Grid seemed more like an imposing threat than they were letting on.

"Sir, I can honestly tell you that if SHIELD decides to attack the Grid now, those kids will never trust us," she had pointed out, referring to the girl's lack of trust towards them.

Though given what she had suffered from all of those years, no one could blame her.

Natasha Romanoff was no stranger to torture. She had suffered far more than anyone would ever know. And maybe that was why she felt protective over this girl. The similarities between them were almost too much for her, though. She didn't want to admit that she felt sympathetic to their cause.

"What we need to do is take down this 'Cyrus' character," Fury reminded her. "He's the biggest threat at the moment."

That, she was more than happy to agree with. Cyrus was a bigger threat than they realized. He had already taken down several agents and managed to knock out half the power in New York City. He was on the move to Manhattan, and Natasha suspected he was after the two they had taken in.

"The Avengers already know what we're up against," she reassured him.

Fury simply rubbed his temple and looked at her seriously.

"But do the kids you brought in know?" he asked. "They need to figure out who their fighting for."

 _Don't worry, they already know_. Natasha didn't say that out loud. But after seeing the one program through the girl's memories, it was obvious who they fought for. They had lost so much over the years. Yet they were still fighting back in their own way. That was all the Avengers and SHIELD could ask for.

…

Her fists collided with the punching bag as she took her anger out in training. Each swing seemed more powerful than the last. Her knuckles were already black and blue from not using protective gear, but the pain, oddly enough, felt good.

Tony had shown her the gym when she asked for a place to vent her anger. She wasn't even sure why she was so angry with herself, but this was the best place to release it. Better on the punching bag than someone standing in the room.

"What did the punching bag ever do to you?"

Mira flinched at the sound of Clint's voice. She ignored him and swung at it once again, moving to the side to avoid getting hit back as it moved back to its original position. She didn't realize until finding the gym how good it felt to take her frustration out on something. A tough workout regime was something that she had been missing out on since they arrived in the Real World. When she was back in the facility, they hadn't allowed her anywhere near a gym or a training facility while she recovered from her injuries. Now, she was mostly free to wander the Tower, and the gym had quickly become her favorite spot.

"I figured this would be easier than hitting someone else," she replied after pausing for a moment.

Clint hadn't missed the bruises covering her knuckles. She knew she probably looked like a mess. Dealing with the stress of being taught everything again hadn't helped matters. She didn't want anyone else to see how stressed she was, or how much she wanted to go back to the Grid. She actually missed living what felt like a normal life on the Grid.

"You know, people usually wear gloves before hitting the punching bag," he told her, grabbing the gloves in question. Mira only rolled her eyes at that. She stepped away from the punching bag and took a sip of water from the bottle she had taken with her. "What are you _really_ doing here?"

She let out a sigh and leaned against the wall as she thought back to what had brought her here. Truthfully, this was just another way to avoid everyone else in the building. She didn't want to hear any questions that might be brought up about her past.

"Honestly, I've been trying to avoid everyone since last night," she admitted guiltily. "I don't want people treating me differently, just because of what happened. I know Tron blamed himself for what happened, and…" She closed her eyes as she couldn't finish the last part, and Clint seemed to read her mind.

"You blame yourself for what happened to him," he finished for her.

Finally, she opened her eyes and nodded.

"Cyrus was right about one thing… all I've ever done is make mistakes, from day one," she muttered crossly.

"Don't blame yourself for something that can't be controlled." Mira looked at Clint in surprise when he said that. "Some things are meant to happen, no matter how hard we try to stop them from happening."

Mira thought she detected a hint of double-meaning in the way he spoke. She hadn't missed the haunted look in his eyes, telling her that he had faced his fair-share of suffering in the past. She couldn't help but glance at the User curiously as she wondered what sort of deep-rooted secrets he was holding.

"Mira," she suddenly whispered, earning a look of surprise from Clint. "My name is Mira… it isn't the name I was born with, but it's the only name I know."

Despite her earlier misgivings, she felt like she could trust him. Something about him seemed oddly reassuring. He reminded her of Beck, in a way. Whatever the reasoning behind her sudden trust, she knew that she could at least tell him her name.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mira," he said with a cheeky grin. She only grinned back before suddenly remembering what he had told her earlier about the 'surprise' they had found. "You'll find it back in your room," he added when she had asked.

She wasted no time in returning to her room after that. The pain from earlier seemed to fade away after she had opened up. She would never admit that out loud, though. It actually felt good to talk about her problems. Maybe that was just another part of being a User.

When she reached her room, she noticed a few scratch marks covering her door. She couldn't hide the grin that followed when something tackled her to the floor. One gentle rub of whiskers and fur was all it took for her to realize what the 'surprise' had been.

"Rinzler! I thought for sure I'd lost you!" she exclaimed after laughing at his antics. The kitten only mewled in response as he let her stand up.

"Natasha said she found him after taking us in." Mira flinched at the sound of Beck's voice. She turned to see him leaning against the doorway as he watched them. "She said she figured he came from the Grid; given the way he looks."

"Makes sense," she replied with a shrug before finally making eye contact with him. "Look, I uh… I wanted to apologize, for my behavior the other day." Beck rose an eyebrow in surprise as she let out a sigh of frustration. "I can be just as bitbrained as you when it comes to making mistakes… if not more. Before we left that facility, I had a nightmare. Clu destroyed Argon City… he said it was part of his 'cleansing' the Grid of imperfection, or something like that."

This time it was Beck's turn to look shocked and appalled by her explanation. That dream had felt more realistic than she would like to admit. Seeing the looks of terror on programs' faces when they were blown to bits sent shivers through her. Those were images she would rather forget.

"I knew Clu was a sadistic jerk, but I didn't think he was _that_ bad," Beck sighed after realizing what she had meant by her dream.

"Beck, he destroyed all of the ISOs except for Quorra, as far as I'm aware," she reminded him. "Clu's already committed genocide on the ISOs, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was capable of doing that again. I'm more concerned about whether he'd make his next move in the Real World."

"Well, he wouldn't get very far," Beck pointed out, referring to the fact that their light cycles hadn't worked straight away. "I have a feeling his weapons or any of his vehicles wouldn't work here."

Mira smirked at the thought of Clu's reaction when he realized none of the 'high-tech' equipment wouldn't work in the Real World. He would be more than pissed off. But he still had an army of repurposed soldiers who would be more than willing to give their lives under his orders. She couldn't let them suffer for Clu's sheer stupidity and greed. She wouldn't let that happen, one way or another. Clu would never be allowed off of the Grid.

"Well, now that you've got all that mushy stuff out of the way, why don't we try something completely new?" Mira froze at the sound of Tony's voice. She glanced at Beck, who merely shrugged in response. Even he didn't know what Tony was up to. Once she had Rinzler settled down, Mira followed Beck to the common room. Tony was standing there with a child-like grin, and all at once, Mira was left wondering what the heck was going on. "In order to fit in with today's society, having the best outfit makes a difference. And that means, getting rid of those suits."

Mira exchanged a worried look with Beck, wondering just what Tony had in mind. They were dragged back to their rooms in order to find out. And just like that, Mira realized there were clothes lined out for her on the bed. Rinzler was sniffing at them curiously as he tried to figure out what they were used for.

"Let us know if either of you have trouble." Mira could almost hear the reluctance in Clint's voice when he said that.

Holding back a sigh, she grabbed the first piece of clothing that looked the most interesting. A purple long-sleeved v neck shirt along with a pair of jeans that looked a bit too uncomfortable for her liking. It took a while for her to figure out how to get the suit off. But once she did, it felt as if something that was part of her had gone missing. Glancing at her reflection, she let out an irritated sigh.

 _I can't wear anything other than long-sleeved shirts or pants_ , she realized bitterly. No thanks to Clu, she probably could never be seen with a dress out in public, or anything else that was too revealing for comfort. People would immediately start asking questions about the scars and where they had come from. She shook her head at the thought, realizing there was no point in dwelling on the past.

Once she was fully dressed, she opened the door and peered outside to see if Beck was finished. Clint had walked by the moment she was finished, his eyes widening in surprise when the door almost slammed into his nose.

"Sorry!" she gasped after realizing he was so close.

Luckily, he shrugged it off and glanced in the direction of Beck's room.

"Everything okay in there?" he asked, tapping on the door lightly.

Mira rose an eyebrow curiously when she heard a loud thud that followed. Something was definitely not right. She was about to follow when Clint opened the door and quickly closed it behind him, followed by a few colorful curses and a groan of annoyance. By now, she was smothering a fit of laughter when Natasha chose that moment to arrive.

"Do I even want to know?" she asked, raising an eyebrow when she heard the noises.

"He hasn't really gotten the grasp of clothing… I assume," Mira replied with a shrug while trying not to grin like an idiot.

She was surprised it hadn't taken her as long to figure it out. Maybe it was just natural instinct for Users to know the difference between putting clothing on or taking it off. It was also the first time she'd ever smiled so much. She never realized how much she missed that, or how good it felt.

"Now there's a visual I didn't need," Natasha muttered after realizing what Mira had meant by that.

A few more minutes had passed before both Beck and Clint emerged from the room. Clint's eyes were narrowed with frustration as he shoved his way past Mira.

"Never. Again," he grumbled.

By now, both Mira and Natasha were laughing hysterically while Beck rubbed the back of his hair in embarrassment. It was the first time in xilacycles either of them had a decent laugh like that. She had a funny feeling that whatever Clint had said back there would _stay_ back there.

In the end, it had taken Mira most of the day to relearn everything from what it took to living like a User, to just acting 'normal'. Beck was still struggling to figure it out, but at least Natasha was patient. Clint, on the other hand, was not the most patient person in the world. Mira had learned this the hard way when she almost punched him in the face for sneaking up on her. Luckily, he had better reflexes than most Users did.

"We'll definitely need some backup once we track down Cyrus," Tony sighed once they were settled in for the night. Mira was exhausted by then; she had found a soft sofa to lean against, and it was hard just keeping her eyes open as she listened to them talk about Cyrus' fate. "I've already called Rogers in for some extra protection, and Banner should arrive soon after, if he's gotten the message."

"So basically, this is going to be a sleepover," Natasha said, her voice oddly quiet as she took a sip of wine from her glass.

"I don't know if sending those two in is a good idea," Clint added, shooting Mira a sidelong glance. Her eyes were half-closed, but she heard them well enough. "Given the history they share with him."

"Bringing them along might draw him out faster," Natasha pointed out. "Think about it – from what we've seen of her memories, he always attacks when they're around."

A shiver ran through Mira at that as she realized they were right. Anytime the Renegade and the Rogue were around, it led to nothing but destruction and heartache. For so long they, had struggled to fight against the Occupation, but was it worth it in the end? How many others would have to suffer because of their mistakes? She couldn't help but wonder if returning to the Real World had just become another mistake to add to her list.

* * *

 **AN: Yay for long chapters! This one I especially loved... it's high-time both Mira and Beck earned a 'normal' day, even if it wasn't normal. And Mira's relationship with Clint really begins to unfold in this chapter... I wanted to make that clear when I started writing the original, but it was kind of sugar-coated for whatever reason ;)**

 **Retrokill - Hehe, I'm not giving anything away :P Though, Stark does make some pretty good wild guesses. And as for whether they viewed her memories, it all sort of happened so fast that they only saw bits and pieces. But, that doesn't mean Stark has his way of gaining access to said memories, especially since they used his computer ;)**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

She wasn't sure who had taken her to her room, but she was grateful to wake up there. She hadn't even realized until than that she had fallen asleep in the common room. By the time she did wake up, she felt fully rested and ready for just about anything. Rinzler was sleeping beside her, curled up on the bed as she sat up.

"Morning," she whispered, rubbing him between the ears. The kitten only purred in response, stretching out and arching his back before opening his eyes. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked when he started batting at a piece of string from her bed sheets.

Shaking her head in amusement, she decided to get in the shower before getting dressed. Because there were no senses of smell or anything along those lines, showers weren't necessarily required back on the Grid. But the moment she stepped into the warm shower was when her tense muscles began to relax. She had almost forgotten how soothing this could be. Once she was finished, she got dressed and headed immediately for the gym.

This was usually how her routine on the Grid would have gone. Every now and then it would mix up by going to the club, especially if her coworker was running late or couldn't make it for whatever reason. She realized with a start that these routines were good for her. She managed to set up a simulation room in the warehouse where programs were still recovering to test her strength and push her limits. Those simulations were some of the reasons why she had gotten so much stronger and faster.

She was thankful to have the gym to herself this time. After talking with Clint the last time she was here, she didn't think facing him again would be such a good idea. Besides, she had already accidentally tried punching him twice when he snuck up on her, or when he startled her. Clint was no stranger to her short temper, as he had learned the hard way. Luckily, he had quick reflexes, and he was able to learn fast enough that sneaking up on her was never a good idea for anyone involved.

The first thing Mira went for was the punching bag, once again, without using any protective gear. Her knuckles were still bruised and scabbed over from the last session, but she didn't care. A little pain felt good, especially if she knew it was making her stronger. The first few throws were violent, causing the bag to sway farther than she anticipated. Eventually she managed to get a fast rhythm going, and started using both her fists and her legs for more momentum. What she wasn't expecting was to find someone watching her the whole time.

"The punching bag can only do so much." Mira felt her blood run cold at the sound of Natasha's voice. "Why don't we see how good you are against a real sparring partner?"

She spun around in time to see the red-head standing on one side of a fighting mat. Mira narrowed her eyes, suddenly wondering if Natasha was actually serious until deciding that a sparring partner would be a good idea. She was right about the punching bag only providing so much. She would often try and look for sparring partners after running from Tron and Beck. Even after all of that, it never seemed like enough. Xilacycles of living on her own taught Mira that there was always something new to learn.

A real sparring partner was unpredictable, and could change their tactics at any moment. She did want to see just how skilled Natasha was in a fight after the way she took her down in the city. She hated to admit that the redhead had taken her by surprise on their first encounter. Maybe that was why Natasha had taken her down so easily. Then again, she could tell that Natasha also had years of experience under her belt. She just did a better job of hiding it than most Users.

She walked over to the fighting mat and took on a defensive posture, not willing to make the first move until observing Natasha's fighting style. She suspected there was more to Natasha Romanoff than she was willing to let on. Especially when said User delivered the first blow. Her attack was quick and precise, one punch to the shoulder and an unexpected kick against the leg. Mira smirked as she saw what Natasha was doing. Despite the pain from her blows, it didn't last long. Mira chose that moment to retaliate by performing a roundhouse kick, catching Natasha completely by surprise.

Natasha managed to catch herself seconds later when Mira found an opening. She lashed out with everything she had, striking at any weak point until she was out of breath. By the time she was finished, she was exhausted and Natasha had the upper-hand. Without warning, Natasha suddenly had her pinned to the floor while keeping a firm grip on her arms. Amusement swept across her features when their eyes met. And for the first time, Mira was beginning to see that Natasha wasn't just masking her emotions.

"Damn, that was a good fight." Both of them looked up in surprise to see Clint leaning against the wall, smirking in amusement at their scowls. It was almost uncanny how well their facial expressions matched. "Don't mind me, this guy here was just asking where everyone went."

Mira couldn't hide the smirk that followed when she saw Beck standing beside him, looking somewhat embarrassed when he was pointed out. She glanced at Natasha warily before joining him after she got back to her feet, arms crossed as she waited for at least someone to say something that would break the awkward silence that followed. She had a feeling that they didn't just stop by for a little chat. Clint rarely talked to her unless it was to get some kind information out of her. Natasha was the only one who seemed to enjoy instigating a conversation with her.

"It's been a while since I've had a decent sparring partner," she pointed out after finally cutting through the awkward silence. "Tron always took it too easy on me in a sparring session."

"I think he was more afraid you'd kick his butt," Beck said with a sheepish grin.

 _Well, that isn't entirely true_ , she thought with a roll of her eyes. Tron was far stronger than anyone she would have faced in a sparring session. But the only reason he had taken it easy on her was because of what she was. He never wanted to hurt her because he knew that she was a User. Fighting for the Users had always been in Tron's programming before he was repurposed. She often found herself wondering if he would have retained any of that programming even after Clu managed to repurpose him. _I never thought I would miss the days when he was pushing us around_ , she admitted silently.

"Are you two finished?" Clint asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Guys, you're needed in the lab." Mira felt her blood run cold at the sound of Tony's voice. He wasn't anywhere in the room, but she had a feeling he was close by. She exchanged an uneasy look with Beck before following Natasha and Clint towards the lab. Sure enough, they found Tony typing away furiously at a keyboard while grumbling under his breath. "No one hacks my security and gets away with it."

"Tony, what's wrong?" Natasha asked.

Mira rose an eyebrow in surprise when she noticed how blurred the screens looked. The equipment in the lab looked as if it was malfunctioning as well from some interference. She had an eerie feeling that this had something to do with Cyrus. Her mind was churning with anxiety as she noticed the lights were flickering on and off as well. The power fluctuations reminded her of what had happened when Cyrus took Tron the first time they fought.

He wasn't opposed to hacking into a User's computer system. Which left Mira wondering how many other innocent Users suffered from his attacks. He could just as easily take over advanced systems and use them to wreck havoc throughout the world. Luckily, Cyrus seemed focused solely on hurting anyone she and Beck were close to at the moment. She knew it would end in disaster if he did try to hurt other Users who didn't have the defense the Avengers seemed to have.

"Someone managed to hack into my security," he replied angrily. " _My_ security! What sort of idiot thinks they can get away with this?"

"Something tells me that someone is Cyrus," Beck said under his breath.

Mira only nodded in agreement, and as if their thoughts had summoned him, said insane program's face appeared on the screen. She glanced around to notice that the others had tensed upon his appearance. The fact that Cyrus was speaking to them directly told her he was up to something. And that something couldn't be any good. Suddenly, a garbled voice sounded through the speakers. Mira stiffened at the grating voice, reminded all too much of the way Cyrus had acted on the Grid.

 _Cyrus has other means of hacking into someone's security system_ , she thought angrily. After all, Cyrus had made it easy hacking into Tron's security system. Modifying code was simple enough once one learned how to. Since she was a User, she had always managed to find a way of hacking into the system. But if Cyrus had abilities like she did, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to use said abilities in the Real World, especially if it meant staying one step ahead of everyone else.

He was like a Gridbug, constantly appearing every few cycles. Only it seemed like each time he made an appearance, he became a little more insane. The thought sent a shiver of unease through Mira. There was no telling what sort of chaos he would cause now that they knew what he was capable of.

Natasha raised a gun instinctively at the screen, only to realize that it was the program himself speaking. She quickly lowered the gun once she realized that he was too much of a coward to face them in person. Mira doubted that Cyrus would actually show himself unless she and Beck were around for him to take down. He was hellbent on capturing them and destroying everything they cared about, which included the Users who were currently helping them.

"I'm going to make this simple for you, since Users are not the most intelligent beings in the world." Mira's fists clenched at the way he spoke, almost making it seem as if he was smug about the whole thing. "Give yourselves up, and I'll leave quietly." A shiver ran through Mira when Cyrus looked in her direction. "But, if you put up a fight, the bombs I planted throughout the city will detonate. I won't give second chances."

"And just what makes you think we can trust you?" Beck demanded, his voice suddenly cold as he glared back.

Cyrus only chuckled in response. He of all programs had always seemed to try guessing what Beck or anyone who opposed him would say. She wasn't entirely surprised with his response, especially since this wasn't the first time he reacted this way. Able had mentioned that Cyrus was a creature of habit. Now she understood what he meant by that. His behavior lately had been repetitive, and even when they were on the Grid, he tried pulling off the same tricks numerous times.

"After all these cycles, you still can't trust me?" Mira only rolled her eyes at that retort. Of course she would never trust a lunatic like Cyrus. After everything he had done, she would never trust him. "Though, I suppose you of all programs have a reason not to. And you, of all Users, should know full-well what I am capable of."

And just like that, Cyrus disappeared from the video screen. All the lights went back to normal, and the equipment in the lab stopped malfunctioning. Mira's shoulders tensed as Tony went back to work regaining control over his security system. She hadn't missed the fact that everyone was staring at both her and Beck once Cyrus had disappeared. Cyrus wasn't lying, that much was true. But would he really risk getting himself caught in battle? Especially against well-trained Users?

 _Something tells me he'd be more than willing to risk everything just to see what these people are capable of_ , she thought angrily. She had a feeling that if the team was as strong as they had appeared during the battle, Cyrus was in for a nasty surprise. Especially if they all worked together. She just hoped that they would manage to find some way of working together when it came to taking him down. Otherwise the rest of the Real World was in trouble.

"So… what now?"

Mira frowned at that. Even if they had given themselves up, Cyrus would still do everything in his power to make the Users miserable. Or something far worse. She had a feeling he would go so low to destroying the Real World if given the chance. She glanced at Beck, a knowing look in his eyes.

"We give ourselves up," she suggested. Natasha and Clint looked at her in surprise. "Look, Cyrus is a creature of habit. We learned that on the Grid when he tried derezzing Paige. If we give ourselves up, it should buy the rest of you enough time to find the bombs and get rid of them."

"That's… actually not a bad idea," Clint replied after thinking it through.

"Wait, who's Paige?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise at the mention of the former Commander.

"It's a risky move," Natasha said thoughtfully, ignoring Tony's remark. "If Cyrus is as dangerous as he seems, then he might already see it coming."

"It's the only chance we have at stopping the bombs," Mira snapped. "If we can do anything to stop him from hurting anyone else, then the risk will be worth it."

She was finished letting Cyrus terrorize everyone in the Real World. It was time they put an end to his reign once and for all. Even if it meant giving everything up, she was more than willing to make sure that Cyrus was either taken down for good, or that he served justice.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Clint asked this time.

Mira exchanged a knowing look with Beck before they both nodded in agreement. They were both responsible for bringing Cyrus to this world. She knew that the only way she would feel better for what had happened was if Cyrus was taken down a peg or two.

"Two is better than one," Beck reminded them, having already decided he had enough with Cyrus as well.

Considering Cyrus was the one responsible for all the chaos in Argon City, Mira couldn't blame Beck for his determination to bring him down once and for all. If it meant knocking the ego out of him, they would both work together and find some way of stopping Cyrus for good. Determination suddenly swept through Mira as she thought of what they would have to do just to stop Cyrus once and for all, without causing more casualties along the way.

"Cap and Banner should be on their way soon," Tony explained once they had made their decisions. "If it comes down to a fight, the big Green Giant might be our best bet."

Mira rose an eyebrow at his last remark. She remembered seeing the green monster from her dream all of those cycles ago back on the Grid, along with the creature running rampant in the city when they first arrived. Was that what Tony had referred to? Natasha and Clint exchanged looks as they considered their options before accepting the challenge.

"We'll keep watch from above while you attack from below," she explained after Clint left. "If this goes south, there's no telling what will happen."

The last thing Mira wanted was for any other Users to get hurt because of their mistakes. If it came down to it, she would be willing to sacrifice her own well-being for them. That was what Tron would have wanted. She was thankful that her light sword still worked in this world. Having some sort of weapon against Cyrus would be better than nothing at all. And she knew that in the end, this would be one heck of a fight.

* * *

 **AN: I apologize for not updating on Tuesday... my week has been pretty busy, and today is the first 'free' day I've had in a while. And, I also apologize for the shorter chapter. Normally, I try to keep them at two thousand words long, but, this was more of a filler chapter than anything else. Thanks to Retrokill for reviewing!**

 **Retrokill - Hehe, he was indeed :P Poor Clint is now traumatized by what he has witnessed XD I'm glad you liked it so much :)**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

It felt as if time had slowed down when they got ready. Cyrus had left an invitation for them when he hacked into Tony's security system. Mira had a feeling this was exactly what the lunatic had hoped for. Something along the lines of drawling them out and forcing them into the open. Clint was already waiting for them by the entrance of the building when they arrived. Mira raised an eyebrow as she noticed the suit he was wearing. Oddly enough, the weapons he was using didn't look like they would match up in a fair fight.

Just like in the battle against those aliens. Natasha had on a suit of her own. She had explained earlier that it was a SHIELD created suit, with some weaponry of her own design. Mira had no doubt that Natasha was capable of holding her own in a battle against Cyrus. She could still feel the pain of their fight all those weeks ago. Cyrus would be in for a nasty surprise if he faced Natasha head-on.

 _Which is probably why he challenged the two of us_ , Mira thought angrily. Cyrus was smart enough to know who he could take down. And so he would make a show with the two of them. He wanted Users to think that programs were dangerous, and should be treated as the threats they supposedly were.

"What took you so long?" Clint asked once they had arrived.

"Can it," Natasha snapped. "Are you two ready?"

She turned to look at Beck and Mira.

They had both changed into outfits that Tony had equipped for the battle ahead. The suits were standard SHIELD outfits, but he modified them to work like suits on the Grid. With white and purple stripes, Mira's suit looked just like the one she had worn as a disguise for so many cycles. Beck's suit looked similar to his old one on the Grid. How Tony had the time to modify the suits or even remember what they looked like was beyond her.

"Yeah, I think so," Mira replied after activating her light sword.

She was not going to let Cyrus get away with this. After everything he had done to them and to the Grid, he needed to be taken down once and for all. She knew that the only way they could take him down was by working together, regardless of their differences. She just hoped that the rest of the team would also see it that way.

"Keep your eyes and ears open for him; he's not far from your location."

Mira flinched at the sound of Tony's voice. He had given her and Beck an earpiece so that they could keep in touch during the heat of battle. Now she was beginning to regret accepting the earpiece. She knew it was necessary to keep in touch with the rest of the team. Once they split up into smaller groups, they would need some way of keeping in touch with one another.

Beck was fascinated with the little device before putting it on. Mira couldn't help but smirk in amusement when he started asking what it was made from. Communication like the earpiece would have been perfect on the Grid, especially if they got separated.

Wind rushed past Mira's face once the doors slid open. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a red and gold metallic suit flying above them. People down below were watching the scene in awe, oblivious to the threat that was right under their noses. A few of them were smart enough to know that trouble loomed ahead, and they scurried off to a hiding place before the fight broke out.

Something about the red and gold suit reminded Mira of the black guard on the Grid. It was a bit gaudier looking, but the resemblance was almost too much.

"It's okay; he's with us," Clint explained after noticing her look of anxiety.

"Cap's got an eye out for the bombs, and Banner's on his way," Tony told them after landing nearby. Mira eyed him warily, and a mask receded to show that it really was Tony flying the suit. "What, you've never seen Ironman before?" he asked in disbelief.

"Red isn't exactly a promising color," she simply retorted, earning a look of surprise from Beck.

What? It wasn't like she was lying. Red and orange were the primary colors used for soldiers under Clu's command. It wasn't entirely fair to blame every program with red and oranges suits. Not all of them worked for Clu, but the vast majority had, and Mira had quickly learned to avoid programs with those color lines.

"Did you inform SHIELD about this?" Natasha asked.

"What do you think?" Tony asked, smirking in amusement before the mask covered his face again and he took off.

Just as he had taken off, the ground began to tremble violently. Beck grabbed onto one of the nearest objects he could find, which happened to be a fire hydrant. A shiver ran through Mira as she realized this was exactly what Cyrus had wanted.

"What the hell was that?" Clint's question was answered seconds later by a loud explosion that shook the entire city.

"Told you he'd lie," Beck muttered under his breath.

"We've got several explosions throughout the city happening at once," another voice confirmed Mira's worst fears, "Tony, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Hang on, Rogers, we're on our way," Tony reassured him. Mira rose an eyebrow at that, wondering just what he meant by his remark. "Keep up and stay off the streets," he added to Mira and Beck.

She simply rolled her eyes at that before running after Natasha and Clint. Beck was able to easily keep up with them until reaching the location in question. Her eyes widened with recognition when she saw shrapnel from bits of modified code littering the sidewalks and street.

"Looks like Cyrus is up to his old tricks," she whispered, noting the fact that Cyrus was doing exactly what he would have done on the Grid.

"If he can modify code here, we're in bigger trouble than we thought," Beck added.

"Glad you could make it. I managed to free most of the civilians caught in the crossfire."

Mira's eyes widened in surprise when she recognized the costumed man from their arrival in the Real World. He was a lot taller up close than Mira first realized, maybe close to Tron's height. Though his mask concealed what his hair looked like, she could see that his eyes were a light shade of blue when he looked at them curiously.

"Capsicle, am I ever glad you're here!" the new User only rolled his eyes in response to Tony's child-like glee.

 _I never thought I would get to meet a living legend_ , Mira thought as she stared at the newcomer in question. Captain America was one of the greatest heroes she had ever heard of before arriving on the Grid. One faint memory she had of her past was reading his comics, and they didn't do him any justice. In reality, he looked young, likely in his early or late twenties. Finally, he seemed to notice her standing beside Beck, light sword raised and poised for a strike if it was needed.

"Tony, for the last time, it's Captain America," he muttered with another roll of his eyes through his earpiece. "And who might you be?" he asked, glancing at Beck and Mira.

"They're not from around here," Clint replied before either of them could get a word in. "We'll explain everything later."

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Captain America asked after nodding in understanding.

Mira was still miffed that Clint had spoken for her, but at this point, it didn't matter. That was when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Clint had noticed it to and fired an arrow at the figure looming in the shadows. The figure moved with inhuman speed, narrowly avoiding the explosive arrow.

"This is going to be much easier than I thought." Her blood ran cold at the sound of Cyrus' voice. "Even with the two Users who tried taking me on, I am still stronger than ever."

 _Two Users_ … _he means Clint and Natasha_! Mira narrowed her eyes as she realized that they had tried taking Cyrus down on their own. And of course, they had failed miserably at it. Somehow, she wasn't surprised with that notion when she thought about it. If they did work for SHIELD, it made sense that they would try and go after Cyrus on their own before sending in reinforcements.

Cyrus glared at them all, but Mira stiffened when she felt his piercing gaze on her.

"Now then, why don't we get this started?" Cyrus sneered and lifted his cloak. "How does it feel to abandon everyone you knew on the Grid?"

"We didn't abandon them!" Beck shot back.

Mira couldn't help but wince at the smirk that followed. Cyrus hit a sore spot, especially when it came to the Grid. Her fists clenched as she thought of all the nightmares she had suffered from. This was exactly what Cyrus had said in one of her nightmares, and she couldn't help feeling responsible for leaving everyone on the Grid behind.

"Oh, really? Then why has Clu taken over every city on the Grid?" Cyrus reached for his disk, blades activating before he threw it.

Everyone jumped out of the way just as Natasha flipped back and kicked the disk away. Mira resisted the urge to grin when she noticed Cyrus' triumphant sneer turned to a scowl. Clearly he wasn't expecting the Users to fight back with so much ferocity. He caught the disk and threw it again.

His attacks were quick and lethal. While the disk was sent flying, he managed to jab a few blows at both Natasha and Beck. Mira looked for an opening and suddenly slammed her light sword against the back of his neck. Cyrus reeled over in surprise before whipping around and kicking her in the chest, sending her flying into a nearby wall.

"Guys, get out of there!" Tony's voice sounded through the earpiece, making Mira jump in surprise. "That guy's a ticking time-bomb."

Before any of them could respond, a bright flash of light illuminated the area. Panicked shouts echoed throughout the city when the buildings around them began to tremble. Mira was still reeling with pain from when Cyrus had thrown her into a building after Beck pulled her out of the way. The debris and rubble from the building suddenly covered whatever escape path she might have had.

"Good. Now we're alone," Cyrus sneered.

Mira whirled around, wincing in pain before glaring at said enemy. Cyrus was leaning against the building, struggling to stand as smoke fumed from his body, and the glowing light was beginning to fade. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized that he was the cause behind the explosion. Somehow, he did manage to turn himself into an explosive.

"What have you done?" she demanded, struggling once again not to wince in pain as she grabbed him by the collar of his suit and slammed his back against the building.

"I've made your lives miserable on the Grid, and I'm going to do the same here!" Cyrus spat. He managed to reach for his disk and sliced it across her arm, leaving a fresh wound. By now her body felt numb with pain; from her back slamming against the building to this latest wound, she was really pushing herself more than usual. "I've heard from a very reliable source that SHIELD, the very Users you are trying to protect, are hiding secrets. Secrets that only I know about."

"And just what makes you think I'd believe that load of crap?" she asked, her voice cold as ice as she glared back.

Cyrus used her moment of distraction to climb down the fire escape. Rage boiled within her when she heard the screams of people down below as they tried escaping the wrath of one insane program. With a sigh of frustration, she ignored the stinging pain from her arm and followed him.

He didn't get very far before she had reached him. Cyrus stood on one side of the roof while she stood on the other, hands gripping her light sword as she prepared for his next move. His triumphant smirk only made her angrier. Like Able had said all those cycles ago, he really did have a way of getting under her skin.

"You really are a persistent User, aren't you?" he sneered. "Just like those two down below, who claim to be good Users."

She only rolled her eyes at that, raising her light sword before wincing in pain.

"Persistence is what has kept me alive all of these cycles," she snapped.

Cyrus only scowled and threw his disk. She managed to block the blow and sent it flying back at full force with her light sword. The glare that followed was priceless when his disk left a clean cut across his cheek. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw scarlet droplets mixed with pixels scattering across the roof.

 _That is definitely not normal_ , she thought with a shiver of horror. _Something really is wrong with him_. Cyrus was ready to strike again when the building began to tremble. Panic swept through her as she noticed the eerie glow that followed, and realized that he was about to use himself as a bomb again.

"HULK SMASH!"

She jumped out of the way just in time. Something large and green had slammed into Cyrus. The same green mass she had seen in her dreams, and in the battle against those alien-creatures. The attack was unexpected, leaving the rogue program stunned. The creature slammed his fists into Cyrus, and the cement roof underneath began to crack open.

In her moment of panic, Mira had backed towards the corner of the roof before realizing too late that she had lost balance. Her teeth clenched with pain as she slammed her light sword into the nearest window, hoping that would be enough to break her fall. A cold rush of wind and glass shattered around her as she kept falling, until someone had finally caught her.

"Sorry, kid. Should've gotten here sooner." She was just relieved that someone had caught her. A fall from that height would have surely killed her.

"What is that thing?" she asked, peering over to see the green mass just moving away from the building.

"That's our secret weapon," Tony replied after landing between Clint and Natasha.

"Are you okay?" Beck asked after realizing she had faced yet another near-death experience.

"Other than feeling like someone's just used me as their personal punching bag, I feel great," she muttered sarcastically.

"Where is he?" Captain America asked once he had joined the rest of them.

"Got away," the creature replied in a growl that sent shivers through Mira.

Oddly enough, his voice sounded like Tron's when he was disguising it.

"After going through that?" Natasha asked in disbelief.

"Hulk's right," Tony replied after hovering in the air for a few nanocycles. "According to my scanner, Cyrus isn't even in the area anymore. I'm not picking up any visible lifeline readings."

"How is that even possible?" Captain America asked, eyeing Mira and Beck curiously as if expecting them to have the answers to their dilemma.

"I think we've got bigger problems than that," Beck pointed out.

Mira flinched when the creature Tony had called 'Hulk' growled at them. But to her surprise, he didn't try attacking either of them. Instead, he looked more curious than anything else. Unease swept through Mira when she noticed the suspicious glare he gave them.

"Easy, Hulk. They're with us," Clint reassured him.

The Hulk only grunted in response and narrowed his eyes.

"And what could be worse than letting him get away with this kind of damage?" Natasha demanded.

Mira exchanged a worried look with Beck. She wasn't the only one who had noticed something was wrong with Cyrus. The mixture of blood and pixels was something she hadn't expected to see. And she couldn't help but wonder if this had anything to do with a virus in his system.

Viruses were nothing but bad news for the Grid. A shiver ran through her as she remembered Abraxas, a Virus who had caused chaos throughout the Grid and destroyed so many lives. She had avoided that part of the Grid for that reason.

"Cyrus was using himself as a bomb," Mira explained after giving it some thought. If he was capable of modifying code in the Real World, then it made sense that he would turn himself into a living weapon. She glanced at Beck, who nodded in agreement while the others stared at her in disbelief. "When that building collapsed on the street, I saw that his circuits were… glowing. And not in a healthy way either."

"Is he an alien?" Captain America asked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to piece together what Cyrus was, along with Mira and Beck.

"We need to let Damage Control take care of this," Natasha sighed, ignoring Captain America's question. "Look, we'll explain everything when we get back."

Captain America kept looking between Mira and Beck, as if hoping either of them would say something. Mira only glared back. She wasn't about to tell him everything she knew about the Grid. He could learn that on his own.

A few more microcycles passed before he finally lowered his shield and gave in.

"Alright, fine. But when we get back, I want answers. Not lies," he told them.

Mira let out a sigh of frustration as she realized he wouldn't give them any leeway. She wasn't going to trust him right away – even if he was the great Captain America. He might have motives of his own, which made him dangerous at the moment. Worst still was knowing that Cyrus had gotten away. Again. She knew that this wouldn't be the last time Cyrus attacked the city. And next time, he might do so without warning.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

 **Ahem, apologies in advance for the majority of necessary scene skips, the next few chapters might be like this.**

* * *

Steve was more than confused when he had first noticed the girl standing beside her partner. She had looked so… cold when he asked where they were from. Something about her was frighteningly familiar. The red hair might have been his first clue, but it was also the way she didn't seem to trust anyone. Even when she was reeling over in pain, she refused to accept help from anyone other than Beck, Clint or Natasha.

"Why do I get the feeling she doesn't trust me?" he asked Tony when they returned to the tower.

Tony only shrugged at that.

"Heck if I should know," he replied cheekily. "She doesn't trust me either, so you're not the only one. She's been through hell, and managed to survive, somehow."

That only made Steve all the more curious about what had happened to make her this way. It was Clint who had pretty much dragged her to the infirmary when they got back. He figured that might be the best time to catch them and figure out what her story was. Maybe Barton would be willing to give up some information on her.

…

Mira winced in pain when a cloth was wrapped around her arm. She hadn't realized how deep the cut was until Clint had washed it. By the time he was finished, she was holding back a scream of pain. Her whole body ached from that battle. Nearly falling to her death wasn't something she had planned.

"So, what have you told them?" she asked, her voice oddly quiet as she gazed out the window looking over the city.

She hated being in the infirmary. It felt like this was where she had spent the most of her time so far in the Real World. When she first discovered that the room she was being kept in at the facility was an infirmary, she found herself hating them more and more. She had a feeling that she was going to spend a lot of time in this area. Clint looked at her in surprise before shrugging.

"We haven't told them anything," he reassured her. Mira rose an eyebrow at that, wondering why they would keep their existence and the Grid a secret. "Look, you can tell them when you're ready. For now, just take it easy."

She simply nodded at that before struggling to stand up again. The moment she put weight on her hip was when she lurched over in pain. Cyrus had done more than just slice his disk across his arm. She bit her cheeks in an attempt to hold back a cry of pain, but even that wasn't enough.

"I can't move," she managed to gasp out before collapsing.

"Bruce, we need you at the infirmary, now!" Clint caught her just before could land on the floor. And of course, Captain America chose that moment to walk in when things took a turn for the worse. Mira did her best to ignore him, and the pain. It took the User Clint had called in a few microcycles to arrive. But when he did, Mira's eyes widened in surprise and panic. "Steve, you're gonna have to hold her down," Clint added, ignoring the look of shock that followed.

"It looks like Cyrus left her more than just a nasty cut on the arm," the User known as Bruce said after they managed to put her on a stretcher and run some scans.

Everything else that followed was like a blur. One microcycle, she could focus her attention on what they were doing and talking about. And the next, her mind went blank and black spots began appearing at the edge of her vision. The last thing she could make out were mixtures of panic and sympathy across their faces.

…

"What happened to her?"

Beck's eyes widened in horror when Clint had called him into the room. The last thing he expected was to find Mira in this state of pain. The three Users had placed her on a stretcher, holding her down so that she wouldn't struggle. Watching her struggle was the hardest part, especially when he knew that the Users were only trying to help her.

"From what it looks like, Cyrus managed to dislocate her hip… and he cracked a rib or two," the User known as Bruce Banner explained warily. "How she's still alive is beyond me."

That only left Beck feeling guiltier about putting her through that fight. Mira had already suffered enough as it was because of Cyrus. Now it sounded like things were only going to get worse. Especially when the User known as Steve looked at her scars for the first time.

"Tony wasn't kidding," he spoke up for the first time since Bruce began operating.

"About what?" Beck asked cautiously.

He knew that he shouldn't tell anyone else about her past. Mira didn't trust anyone for a reason. There was still so much about her that even he didn't know. When the three Users had seen her memories, they flashed by so fast until there was nothing left.

"About her going through hell." Beck glanced at him in surprise. "Who could do something like that?"

Beck didn't answer, but he already knew who would have committed such an act of cruelty. Clu was responsible for all of this. From him losing Bodhi, and the city's trust, to everything that had happened to Mira. She of all Users deserved a happy ending, at least.

"It's going to take a while for her to come to, but her injuries are already healing… at an oddly fast pace," Bruce announced after stepping out of the infirmary. He glanced at Beck uneasily before giving him a reassuring nod. "You're welcome to spend some time with her."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Beck did just that. He had already lost her once on the Grid. He wasn't about to let that happen here.

…

"Her injuries are healing at an alarmingly fast rate," Bruce said once the others were gathered in the common room. "There's also something… oddly familiar about her."

He narrowed his eyes after noticing that Natasha had slipped away.

"I don't get why there wasn't anyone with her when the building started collapsing," Clint muttered crossly. "It's like this kid's asking to get herself killed."

"Well, from what I've seen of those memories, she was willing to give her life for programs that could give a shit about her," Tony pointed out, earning a look of surprise from Steve. "She and Beck were fighting a losing battle on the Grid."

"What exactly did you see from her memories?" Steve asked warily.

Luckily, Tony managed to have Jarvis record everything. And when he played through her memories, all of them watched on with mixtures of horror and amazement. Jarvis had slowed them down to a point where they could really see what Clu and Rinzler had done to her.

Steve had heard a few of Natasha's stories about her time spent in the Red Room and the Black Widow program. But compared to those stories, these memories made them look like child's play. By the time they were finished, Tony almost regretted replaying them. Almost.

"That was… even worse the second time through," Clint managed to say.

"So, Clu did more to her than she probably even realizes," Bruce added. "Which might explain why her injuries are healing so quickly."

"Alright, so we've all agreed that Clu's a bastard who deserves what's coming to him," Tony randomly decided to add. "I'll keep looking through her memories to see what else he's done."

"Tony, are you sure that's a good idea?" Steve asked.

If she didn't trust them now, she would never trust them once she found out what they had just seen. Especially if they decided to keep it a secret.

Tony didn't bother responding. Judging by the slightest grins, Steve guessed he would just go about it anyways. He rolled his eyes as he thought of their next plan of action. This Cyrus character needed to be taken into custody, and fast. But they couldn't really make any moves without the help of Beck and that girl.

…

Natasha leaned against the door as she watched Beck closely. He wasn't even aware of her presence, which suited her well at the moment. After hearing the discussion between all of men, the last thing she had wanted was to sit through and watch the girl's memories again. Once was more than enough for her.

Something about Mira threw her off in a way she didn't like. The girl's lack of trust towards anyone was the first. Then she constantly blamed herself for everything that was happening. Natasha could see the haunted look in her eyes when she talked about the Grid.

She was more than just some random kid who 'accidentally' followed Flynn to the Grid. She should have noticed sooner the similarities between them. She didn't want to admit that this girl was a striking image of her younger self.

That night in the hospital, she didn't want to look back at her past mistakes. She had hoped her mistake would be kept a secret. But of course, as life usually worked out, nothing stayed secret for long. Now she would have to face her mistake head-on.

"She's going to be okay, right?" Beck's question broke her concentration.

Natasha eyed him warily before joining him. Seeing Mira now, in the state she was in, made her realize just how much she had missed out on.

"Bruce said that her injuries are healing," she reassured him. "If what he said was true, then she should make a full recovery in two days."

Beck's concern for Mira was almost touching, in a way. She suspected that whatever they had been through together made their bond stronger than ever. It was the same unspoken bond that she shared with Clint during their missions together. She understood full-well what it meant to have a partner who cared about her.

"Tron would've killed me if I let this happen," he sighed in frustration. "He may not have shown it, but he did care for her. Probably more than I ever would."

Natasha looked at him in surprise when he mentioned Tron's name. Very few civilians knew about the security program that Allen Bradley had created. Fewer still had known that Tron was one of the few programs who fought for the Users. SHIELD had kept a database on the Grid once Flynn disappeared, but not much else was known about it… until now. She decided to leave them alone, for now. Finding information about the Grid, for SHIELD's sake and the worlds, was important. But for now, they needed some alone time.

…

It wasn't the sunlight that had woken her up, or the obnoxious beeping sounds echoing in the background. The soft nuzzling of whiskers caused her eyes to snap open in alarm, only to find Rinzler sitting on her with his head tilted to one side. She almost laughed at the comical way Rinzler always managed to wake her up.

She looked around warily to find herself in the infirmary, again. This would probably not be her last trip to the infirmary either. She had a feeling that her encounter with Cyrus had left her with more injuries than she expected.

To her surprise, Rinzler was the only one in the room at the moment. As she looked around some more, she noticed a few subtle changes that were made. Something about the room seemed different, but she couldn't quite place why. Rinzler jumped off the stretcher, and she cautiously stepped off, half-expecting to feel another stabbing pain in her leg. But to her surprise, and disbelief, she felt none as she took a step forward.

"That's weird…" she muttered to herself.

She wondered how long it had been since passing out for the umpteenth time. Obviously long enough for her to make a full recovery from her injuries. Eventually she gained enough confidence to leave the room entirely. Rinzler took the lead by bounding ahead, until stopping for her to catch up.

Soon enough, she reached the kitchen. Mira was left feeling more confused than ever at that point.

 _I should have felt some kind of pain_ , she thought after remembering the way Cyrus had slammed her against the building, and her fall from the collapsing building. Yet there was no pain, and she felt better than ever as she caught a familiar scent in the kitchen.

"Good morning, I'm glad to see you're wide awake and bushy-eyed," Tony exclaimed after noticing she had arrived.

"How long was I out?" she asked warily, bracing herself for what had probably been a half-week coma, if not longer.

Tony simply shrugged as he handed her a plate of pancakes.

"About a day or two, give or take," he replied.

Her eyes widened in disbelief at that. From the amount of pain, she was in, she would have thought it would take longer to recover. Mira frowned as she looked down at the pancakes, suddenly losing her appetite in the process.

"I… I need some time to think," she stammered, still trying to process her thoughts. She left before Tony could stop her, heading straight for her room with Rinzler following close behind. The kitten mewled in concern as she closed the door behind her and took a few deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling. "Something's not right," she whispered, looking down at Rinzler warily. "They're hiding something."

Just like Cyrus had said. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right about one thing. These Users were keeping secrets, and she was determined to find out what those secrets were. That was what had led her to her latest change in course. Beck was, surprisingly, in his room when she had found him after asking Jarvis where he was. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized she was awake and fully recovered.

"You want me to what?" he asked in disbelief after she told him her theory.

"Look, Cyrus said that SHIELD… or whatever it's called, is keeping secrets from us," she explained after checking to make sure that all of the surveillance cameras were shut down. The last thing she needed was Tony or anyone else spying on them. "I just need to know whether or not he's right. I shouldn't have recovered as quickly as I did, not with injuries like those."

He didn't look happy about hacking into SHIELD's database. But Mira knew that if anyone could do it, Beck could with that tool of his. This was the one time she would ask him for a favor. And it would probably be the last if those Users ever found out about this.

Eventually, he reluctantly agreed to help her on the quest of uncovering SHIELD's secrets about her and the Grid. She managed to swipe a laptop from the lab before deciding to ask him for help. Once she had found it, the rest was surprisingly easy.

In a matter of nanocycles, Mira managed to find her way into SHIELD's most secure files once Beck had handed her the decoder. That was the easy part. Everything had become so automatic that she hardly wasted any time in finding the files that were needed. Beck peered over her shoulder, impressed with how quickly she was able to get into their system and weed everything out.

"Now we're getting somewhere," she said once she had found a file on Flynn. She pulled out the file in question and quickly found out that SHIELD had known about the Grid all this time. Her eyes widened in shock as she read the files about Flynn's adventure in the old system. Once he'd gotten out, he created a system of his own and was about to reveal it to the world until Clu's Betrayal. "They already knew," she muttered crossly.

She nearly dropped the laptop when an image of Tron and Clu appeared on the screen. Their images appeared on either side of the screen with little to no information on who they were. The only information SHIELD seemed to have was that Tron was a security monitor. Both had threat levels ' _unknown_ ' written under their files.

Beck's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he realized it was them.

"What are _they_ doing on SHIELD's file?" he demanded.

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug. "From what it seems like, they were deciding whether or not Tron and Clu were considered threats."

"They knew about the Grid… if they knew about it, then they must have known you were there!"

Beck's exclamation only made Mira realize that he was right. Why didn't SHIELD try and find her when she disappeared? It made no sense.

Cyrus was right about one thing. SHIELD was keeping more secrets from the world than she would have liked. Secrets that only made her angrier towards the Users who were supposedly trying to protect the world. But as they sifted deeper into the files, Beck was beginning to realize they might be digging in too deep.

"Maybe we should stop," he suggested.

"One more thing," she insisted, finally finding what she had been looking for this whole time.

The moment she clicked on the file was when things took a turn for the worse.

Her hands were trembling as she read the files and noticed something eerily familiar about them. And her mind was spinning when she saw a video file posted with her records.

"Miss Rushman, are you sure about this?" It was a nurse who had spoken, and she was holding something in her arms.

A tiny looking User, wrapped up in warm blankets and sleeping peacefully. The tiny User was unaware of their surroundings or what was going on. And Mira had a feeling that was a good thing if she knew where this was going.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Mira felt her blood run cold at the familiar sound of Natasha's voice. She recognized that voice just about anywhere. Hearing it now only told her that Natasha had been planning this for a long time. And that thought alone left her heart wrenching with anger and confusion.

"You are aware that the moment you give her up, you won't ever have any contact with her. That means she won't even know who her mother is."

The nurse sounded almost desperate as she pleaded with Miss Rushman, who didn't seem bothered by the least.

"This was all a mistake to begin with," she replied, her voice holding no emotions. "Having a child was not part of the plan."

The video had cut off at that part. Mira felt as if she was going to be sick when she clicked on the last file. A file that had her name and birth certificate.

"Mira…" She looked at Beck in surprise when he snapped her back to reality. "We need to stop, now."

"She knew!" Her fists clenched with fury as she slammed the laptop shut, startling Beck as she tossed it across the floor. "All this time, she knew, and she couldn't be bothered to admit the truth!"

"Mira, what's wrong? Who knew?" Beck managed to stop her from storming out of the room at that moment, catching her by the arm just in time.

"Natasha. I saw her in my dreams… and I'm guessing they were more than just dreams now," she replied, her voice full of bitterness as she glared back. "I knew there was something about her that I couldn't trust."

Beck was only left feeling more confused than ever. He didn't bother trying to calm her down, though. He was no stranger to her wrath, especially when it came to trust issues. And sensing that Natasha had just broken her trust, he guessed she would soon feel Mira's wrath soon enough. But it was at that moment he realized she wasn't angry. She was scared… no, terrified.

He was about to say something when a knock sounded on the door, causing them both to jump in surprise.

"Everything okay in there?" Steve's voice sounded through, and Mira held back a sigh of relief.

She half-expected it to be them, just given the fact that Natasha worked so closely with SHIELD. She wasn't ready to confront them just yet. Her heart was racing with dread at the thought of how that confrontation would go in the first place. She knew it wouldn't end well for anyone involved.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Beck replied, not sure whether it was the truth.

He glanced warily at Mira, noticing that she had stopped pacing. With a sigh of frustration, he stood up and did something neither of them were expecting. He gave her a hug, wrapping his arms protectively around her, just like he had when they reunited on the Grid. The moment she did was when she had calmed down, relaxing under his grip.

"Beck… I don't know what to do," she whispered, sounding hopelessly defeated.

It was the first time he had ever heard such despair and hopelessness from her voice, and he hated it. He suddenly wished there was something he could do to make it seem like this had never happened.

"We'll find a way through this, together," he reassured her, knowing full well that wasn't true.

Whatever happened now, this was something she needed to do on her own.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

 **AN: Anything written in italics with the quotations around them are owned by Marvel Studios, not me.**

* * *

She couldn't sleep that night. Her name kept repeating itself in the back of her mind. The name that she had found on SHIELD's secret files. She wasn't even sure how late it was when she had finally drifted off to sleep. When she did, she immediately regretted it.

That was when the nightmares followed. One particular nightmare was the same one she had had on the Grid. Another was something that sent shivers of fear through her. A younger version of Natasha stood in the center of the room, with several people watching in the background. Someone was tied to the chair, bound in ropes and blindfolded. It took Mira a few seconds to realize that someone was her. A gun was raised, and she was about to fire when Mira suddenly woke up.

" _I have red on my ledger… I'd like to wipe it out_."

A chill swept through Mira as she recognized Natasha's voice when she had heard those words. She had no doubt that Natasha had red on her ledger. Given those nightmares and how real they had felt, she had a feeling they were more than just nightmares. The terrifying reality that both Natasha and Clint were master assassins had begun eating away at her. She knew they had secrets that were probably better off kept secret.

Eventually, she gave up on the idea of sleep and decided to stop by the gym instead. Her mind was still churning with anxiety as she recalled everything they had said in her sleep. Between Natasha being a master assassin, and Clint's own secrets, she wasn't sure what was worse. The only thing she did know was that these people had been trained to kill and obtain whatever secrets they could. That thought alone was enough to send a shiver of dread through her.

" _I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me… he made a different call_."

Just using her fists on the punching bag wasn't enough this time. She kept hitting it with her light sword in an attempt at getting rid of her anger. But even that didn't seem like enough as she cried out in sheer rage, finally pushing herself to her limits. She knew that taking her anger out on the punching bag was never a good idea. Clint had repeatedly told her this, but it was the only way she could let go of said anger without hurting someone in the process.

"Do you want to explain to me why SHIELD's data base was hacked?" Mira nearly doubled over at the sound of Natasha's voice. She whipped around to see Natasha standing there, hips on her shoulders as she narrowed her eyes. "We received intel that SHIELD's database was hacked yesterday, around the same time security went down in the tower. I don't think that's a coincidence."

Mira bit back a nasty retort, knowing full well that would only get her into more trouble than she was already in. She wasn't surprised that SHIELD had found out so quickly. What she wasn't expecting was to face the music so early in the morning.

Instead she said nothing at all, only glaring back as she waited for anything to happen. Luckily, she always kept her light sword with her in case of incidents like these. Natasha looked like she was ready to say something else when she simply sighed in frustration and left.

Her shoulders sagged in relief once Natasha was gone. She hadn't realized until now how tense she was. All of the stress from finding out the truth and everything else left her wishing she had never left the Grid. At least life had been a little simpler back there, if not dangerous from Clu's reign of tyranny.

She decided to use her moment of alone time by heading for the kitchen before everyone else was awake. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one awake. To her surprise, she found Steve sitting on one of the stools that were placed in front of a huge island in the middle of the kitchen. He looked equally surprised to see her standing there, rubbing her arms in embarrassment after realizing she wasn't the only early bird.

"You couldn't sleep either?" he asked when she grabbed a bowl of cereal, thankful for some kind of distraction from everything that had happened.

"No," she admitted guiltily after pouring some milk and grabbing a spoon. "Honestly, it's hard getting used to the time here in the Real World… I'm so used to waking up at random times of the cycle… er, day."

She winced, realizing that once again, she was mixing cycles with days. It was hard to adjust to the sudden change. She had to relearn what was taught to her at a young age when she lived with her foster parents.

"That must be difficult, adjusting to a new world," Steve said thoughtfully.

Mira simply nodded in agreement, realizing that this was the first real conversation she had had with him. She knew there were plenty of Users her age who would have given anything to talk to Captain America. But the familiar lack of trust suddenly came rushing back as she glanced away uneasily.

"Technically, this world isn't new to me," she muttered crossly, narrowing her eyes as she thought of the files she had read. Steve winced as he realized he hit a sore spot. "But it's been so long since I've been here, so everything _seems_ new," she suddenly added.

"I know the feeling." Mira looked at him in surprise before remembering that he had been frozen in ice for seventy years. "I'm still having trouble figuring things out, like modern technology. I still prefer doing things by hand."

She could only grin in agreement at that. He would have gotten along well with programs like Able or Tron. They preferred doing things 'old-school', Able especially. Tron… she suddenly wondered if everyone on the Grid was okay. When Tron had been repurposed, she couldn't help but feel responsible.

To her surprise, Steve was actually a lot easier to talk to than she expected. He reminisced in the old days, often telling her stories about what it was like before joining the army. And she began telling him about the Grid, and more importantly, the time she spent with Tron.

Despite their differences, Tron had become more than just a mentor to her. She had learned to trust him overtime, which wasn't easy to do given her history. But in the end, she had left on a pursuit to take Clu down on her own. Of course that plan had ended in miserable failure, and she ended up returning to Argon City anyways.

Once they were finished talking, Mira chose that moment to check in with Beck and see whether or not he had been interrogated. Most likely, Natasha would have chosen him next if he wasn't first. To her relief, he was alone. Well, not entirely alone. She blinked in surprise when she saw Rinzler curled up beside him as he looked at her warily.

"What did they tell you?" she asked after sitting down on his other side, alerting Rinzler and causing him to yawn in annoyance.

"Not much, other than the usual threats," Beck replied with a sheepish grin. "This isn't the first time anyone's tried interrogating me."

Mira couldn't help but smirk as she remembered the way Tron had interrogated him. While she had not been there at the time, he showed her exactly what Tron had done to him during their moment alone. Tron had been playing with his emotions at the time. She knew that was one of his favorite tactics, because Clu would have done the same thing. Now, they were both a little wiser to the way someone would try and fool them into telling the truth.

"I didn't say anything at all," she said with a shrug.

Seeing the frustrated look on Natasha's face when she had left was more than satisfying. It wouldn't be the first time she had left someone feeling more frustrated than needed. One thing she had learned while on her own was that refusing to speak happened to be one of the best tactics to avoid giving anything away.

"Well, Clint was ready to shoot me when I had to think of what to say." Beck's voice was a bit shaky when he said that.

Mira's blood suddenly ran cold. She found herself strapped in a room surrounded by dark walls. Someone was sitting beside her, speaking in a gentle and worried voice.

" _Clint, you're gonna be alright. You need to flush him out_."

The words sounded strangely caring. Mira's heart began to race when she realized it was Natasha speaking again.

" _Why am I back? How'd you get him out_?"

" _Cognitive recalibration. I hit you really hard in the head_."

"Are you alright?"

Mira blinked when Beck shook her a little. She looked at Beck in surprise, not realizing until than that she was actually crying. She hated crying in front of anyone. Crying was just another sign of weakness; an emotion she didn't need.

"Beck, I'm scared," she finally admitted. "I don't know what to do."

"What are you talking about?" Beck finally locked gazes with her as she tried fighting back the tears.

"How would you feel knowing that your very existence was just a mistake," she whispered scathingly. She hadn't realized how bitter she sounded until Beck looked at her in alarm. "Beck, no one _wanted_ me. I lived in an orphanage for five years before disappearing in the Grid! No one bothered looking for me."

Beck's eyes widened in surprise at that. He had learned from Steve that an orphanage was where young Users were sent when their parents wanted nothing to do with them. While he may not know much about them, he knew it wasn't good to be in them for long.

"I'm sure that's not true," he tried reassuring her, but he knew that his efforts were hopeless. "Maybe the files were fake… this might be just what Cyrus wants."

"Told you they were lying." Mira felt her blood run cold at the sound of Clint's voice. Rinzler had jumped off the bed at that point, blinking at the two newcomers warily before he ran and hid under the bed. "So, the files were 'already hacked'?" he asked in a deadly serious tone, shooting a glare at Beck.

"Enough," Natasha snapped as Beck tried saying something in his defense. "We need to talk, privately."

The coldness in her voice told Mira that this was the last thing she had been hoping for. She only glared back.

 _Yeah, I'm sure you'd love to sit and chat about your mistake_! She desperately wanted to shout that, but she bit her tongue to keep herself from losing more than her temper. She knew that losing her temper around them wasn't going to help matters. This was a conversation that had been long overdue between all three of them.

"Look, we aren't going to hurt you," Clint suddenly added.

Mira couldn't tell whether or not he was serious until locking eyes with him. He knew she didn't trust anyone, which made this all the more complicated. Eventually, she let out a sigh of frustration and looked at Beck.

"I'll be fine," she whispered as he looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" he asked, noticing the looks she kept giving them. She simply nodded in response, flinching in surprise when he gave her another hug. "Don't take too long."

"I won't," she promised. The moment she was alone with them, she had already decided what needed to be said. "'This was a mistake to begin with'," she quoted as the door closed behind them. She hadn't missed the fact that Natasha flinched. "'Having a child was not part of the plan'." Mira paused as she let this sink in, and the moment she did, Clint's eyes widened with realization while Natasha looked as if she was looking for a way out of this confrontation. "Was that all I would ever be? A mistake?!" She was shouting now, her eyes narrowed with hate as she glared at Natasha. "The least you could have done was show that you cared a little bit!"

"You read the file… what exactly did it say?" Clint asked, his expression impossible to read as he shot Natasha a knowing look.

And for the first time, he saw panic in her eyes. Real panic.

"Maria Rose… Barton." Silence followed as she continued glaring at Natasha. "You couldn't have at least made my name a little less conspicuous?" Once again, she paused before going off on another rant, "Do you want to know what the worst part was? No one _wanted_ me." Again, Natasha flinched. It was the first time she had ever seen the User show any signs of emotion at all, and it made her feel the slightest bit of satisfaction. "When I disappeared into the Grid, no one bothered looking for me."

Mira's eyes were like chips of ice as she looked at the two of them. Had either of them known? Judging by Clint's shocked expression, he knew nothing about this. She wondered how many secrets Natasha had kept from him, and the rest of SHIELD.

"Well, that would explain why you went into hiding for four months straight," Clint muttered crossly.

Natasha bit the bottom of her lip as she studied Mira closely, realizing that the girl in front of her was the same one she had given up all those years ago.

"Look, you and I both know that raising a kid was not part of the plan," she pointed out. "You know what would have happened if SHIELD found out."

"They would have treated her like any other SHIELD sanctioned case," he retorted. "They would have protected her."

 _I don't need your protection_ , she thought bitterly, but once again, she kept her mouth shut as the two argued. Asking for protection came a little too late. Whatever Clu had done to her was in the past, and there was no turning back time.

"At the time, I highly doubt that." Mira didn't miss the bitterness in Natasha's voice. "You and I both know that I wasn't under SHIELD's best interest back then."

Mira bit the bottom of her lip as she tried to take in everything that was said between them. She had a feeling they had forgotten she was there. And while she should be pissed about that, oddly enough, she wasn't. It gave her enough time to think about what Natasha had said.

She would have likely been kept under SHIELD's radar from the time they kicked her out of the orphanage, had she not disappeared on the Grid. Maybe even than SHIELD had been watching her. They must have known something about the fact that she'd vanished right under everyone's noses. It was at that moment that a new memory suddenly flickered across her mind.

 _The Grid stretched before her, with Cyrus standing in front of her. Able and Tron were with her, eyes narrowed with rage as he held up his disk. Mira felt her heart nearly skip a beat when she realized that this wasn't just a memory._

 _"You really think you can stop me?" he demanded as Able held the device that had become his prison._

 _"Last chance Cyrus," Tron snapped. "You don't have to do this."_

 _His mouth twisted in a sly grin as Cyrus lunged forward. Tron simply stepped aside as Able pushed the button. Cyrus's eyes widened when he stumbled into the compressed space. When he turned back there was no way out._

 _"You realize that this won't hold him forever," Able said once they hid the device as far away as possible._

 _A ditch that was surrounded by storms. Gallium was infamous for generating storms. This was the perfect way of keeping the prison concealed. Programs didn't normally go this far out of the city, which meant they would never likely guess that a prison had been placed there.  
_

 _"Hopefully by than Clu will have been taken down," Tron replied._

 _Mira looked at him in surprise when she saw grief in his eyes. She had never actually seen him show any signs of sympathy. She knew that Cyrus had been Tron's first apprentice. Losing him had taken a toll on Tron. His trust and faith in other programs had been shattered the moment Cyrus betrayed him._

Her eyes widened in disbelief when the memory faded. She wasn't expecting to find herself back on the Grid. Especially when she had just seen the memory of Tron imprisoning Cyrus after he had gone crazy. And Tron… she desperately wished she could see him again. Maybe he would know what to do or say about the problems at hand.

Then a new thought suddenly crossed her mind. She couldn't help but feel as if these visions were trying to tell her something. It felt as if her mind was trying to piece together a puzzle about Cyrus. Something that would help catch the crazy lunatic before he blew up the whole city.

Before she could say anything, Tony's voice sounded over the intercom, "Guys, we have a big problem."

Mira rose an eyebrow in alarm at that. Something was clearly wrong; Tony wasn't usually serious about anything as far as she knew.

She used his announcement as an excuse to slip away unnoticed. Natasha and Clint were still arguing, oblivious to the sudden issue happening now. Steve and Bruce were already in the common room along with Beck, who looked at her in surprise before she stood beside him.

"What happened in there?" he asked warily.

"I'll explain everything later," she reassured him, looking at the television screen in surprise when she noticed the news was on.

It was a live broadcast, and the female reporter seemed all too eager to share whatever juicy details she just received.

"According to the latest stories, we have breaking news on the team known as the Avengers." A woman stood in front of a blue curtain, holding the mike steady in her hands as she spoke. Her wavy brown hair seemed to stand out along with the overuse of makeup she had on. "While the Avengers themselves are still fairly new to the world, we recently received word that they have new recruits, one of which isn't even from our world."

"Well, this just got more interesting," Bruce muttered as she went on about how the source was leaked.

"And that's not even the juiciest story I've gotten," the woman continued after a moment of silence followed. "According to the news leak, one of the new recruits is—"

The screen suddenly went blank. Mira tensed as she realized what the news reporter was about to announce. Her heart was racing with dread when everyone shared looks of confusion.

An awkward silence followed. Mira hardly noticed that Clint and Natasha had followed, both looking beyond pissed that word had gotten out so quickly. Seconds later and both their phones started ringing, only making things all the more awkward.

"Something tells me the world wasn't supposed to hear that." Steve winced when they all heard the shouting that followed.

Clint just scowled in annoyance before tossing his phone onto the sofa next to Beck, who jumped at the shouting that followed. Natasha only frowned and hung up the phone. The expressions on everyone's faces? Priceless.

"Okay, now I'm really curious. You never hang up on Fury." The smugness in Tony's voice was enough to make Mira flinch.

Mira couldn't imagine what was worse. The fact that everyone now knew, or that it was really happening in the first place. She almost wished she would wake up from this horrible nightmare and find herself back on the Grid.

"They're going to find out sooner or later," she sighed.

She had a feeling they had already noticed the similarities between her and Natasha. It wasn't painfully obvious, but there were moments when the two could almost be taken as sisters. Unease swept through her as she realized that maybe they did look painfully similar now that she kept glancing back at the redhead.

After Clint's phone had finally died on the sofa (the voice from the other line had kept yelling until than), Beck finally got up and stood beside Mira. Natasha let out a sigh as she looked at Clint, whose own eyes were narrowed with annoyance.

"Mira is… our daughter," he explained.

Dead silence filled the room. Mira was pretty sure she could hear a fly buzzing around at that moment. And just as suddenly as the silence had filled the room, it was broken by a burst of laughter from Tony, causing Steve and Bruce to jump in surprise.

"You can't possibly be serious." His laughter was cut short by Bruce, who jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.

"We all kind of had a feeling that was the case," Steve said, glancing worriedly at Mira. She already had enough trust issues as it was. "The similarities are a bit too coincidental."

"Looks like you two have a lot of catching up to do," Tony said with a knowing smirk.

She chose that moment to slip away before anyone could ask more questions. She needed a moment to herself. A moment to clear her mind and forget everything that had happened. At that point, she didn't care where she went, as long as it was away from them.

* * *

 **AN: So, this chapter is drastically different from the original one I wrote. I'm quite proud with that, and how much longer it is compared to the original :)**

 **Guest - Hehe, I do love deterring readers from the obvious ;) And thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

 **AN: I figured I should post this trigger-warning up here. While I'm not overly familiar with self-harm or any of the likes, I'd rather not take any chances.**

* * *

By the time Tony was finished laughing his ass off, Mira had already left the room. Another awkward silence followed when Beck left to go find her. That was no surprise. Given how close they were, it was a wonder they didn't consider themselves a couple.

"Alight, back to business," the genius, playboy philanthropist said, clasping his hands together as he went over to the monitor looking over the common room. "I've been digging more into her memories, back when she was on the Grid." Everyone gave him looks of shock, and Tony just shrugged as if this was something he did on a daily basis. Which he probably did in his spare time. "Okay, look, we all want to know exactly why she is the way she is. Plus, I had Jarvis record the whole thing just for kicks."

"Tony, I'm not sure this is such a good idea." This time it was Natasha everyone stared at in disbelief. Finding intel on anyone was her thing, but if she was cautious about this, then she knew something wasn't right. Mira had been through enough for them to make things worse than they already were. "We're all aware that she doesn't trust anyone, and understandably so."

"Well, after the way you dumped her, who could blame her?" Clint muttered.

Though, his voice so quiet that hardly anyone heard him. He was still bitter over the fact that Natasha had kept this from him. While he understood why she had gone to such lengths to keep Mira a secret, it still hurt to know that she had suffered so much because of that one secret. Her life on the Grid could have been avoided had he known about her. Maybe he could have done something to prevent any of this from happening.

Tony just rolled his eyes and pulled up a few interesting looking files he'd managed to dig up.

"This was found while she was unconscious, in Clu's prison," he explained. "Apparently, he thought he could get away with running experiments on her."

It wasn't until they started reading the files that they realized just how much damage Clu had caused, and how much torture he had committed upon her. It was a wonder that she trusted anyone after what she had endured while on the Grid.

"That son of bitch was using her as a guinea pig?" Now, Clint was furious.

He may not have known her for that long as his biological daughter, but what gave this 'Clu' bastard any right to treat her that way? No one deserved to suffer whatever fate he threw at them. And the more Clint thought about it, the more he realized how similar Mira's fate was to Natasha's. Though, it sounded as if Mira's trust in others would need more work than ever after everything that had happened to her.

"And, apparently, whatever enhancements he ran on her were successful," Bruce put in, his voice cold with realization and shock.

"He probably would've gotten away with it too, if that ISO hadn't interfered with his plans," Tony explained as an image of Quorra appeared on the screen. She seemed to be one of the very few programs who actually cared for Mira before she met Beck and Tron. "I tried contacting ENCOM about all of this, but I haven't been able to reach anyone."

None of them had noticed at that moment that Natasha disappeared. What Tony had discovered only put her over the edge. She blamed herself for what had happened. She was going to make things right, one way or another.

…

It didn't take Beck long to find her in the gym. Luckily, Tony had given him a tour of the whole tower (much to his displeasure), and it gave him the opportunity to map out every important location. He suspected that this was where he would find Mira. He knew her well enough to know that when she was feeling frustrated or bitter, she would take it out on whatever simulations she or Tron made on the Grid. What he hadn't planned on was finding her in the state she was currently in.

His eyes widened in alarm when he saw a hole in one side of the wall. Broken pieces of glass covered the floor, and huddled in one corner of the room was Mira. That moment of alarm was replaced with panic when he saw her wrists for the first time. They were covered in bruises and fresh blood. Her arms were wrapped around her legs as she stayed huddled in the corner when he crept forward. He had already seen her at her lowest point. Seeing her now only left his mind churning with pity.

"Mira…" Finally, she looked up, and Beck was stunned to see the haunted look in her eyes. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

He found it hard to talk after seeing what just happened. And, despite the fact that she shouldn't be doing this in the first place, he couldn't blame her for her actions. Everything was happening too fast. She had been through so much, and there was only so much one could take without losing control.

"I don't know," she whispered, burying her face into her bloodied and bruised hands. "I just… I just wish that things were back to normal. I keep thinking that maybe this is all a horrible nightmare, and I'll wake up on the Grid where everything is fine."

Again, Beck couldn't blame her for wishing that. He too wished that things were like the old days. Back when everyone was carefree and there wasn't much to worry about other than the occasional gridbug. He didn't understand what she was going through, which only complicated things. As much as he wanted to understand, he knew he never would. She _was_ a User, through and through. Users weren't created the same way programs were.

"I know that things aren't easy, and they probably never will be," he sighed after finally helping her back to her feet. "It may seem hopeless, and we may not have any chances at stopping Clu from here, but we can at least stop Cyrus from hurting anyone else."

For the first time in many, many cycles, Mira actually smiled.

"Well, it would feel more than satisfying to see Cyrus get knocked down a peg or two," she said quietly. "It's what Tron would have wanted."

Now that was the User he had gotten to know as more than just a partner in crime. He felt the same way about Cyrus, especially after seeing all of the chaos the rogue program had committed throughout the Real World. He had no doubt that Cyrus was also responsible for the news about the other Users as well.

Beck was about to say something else when he realized they were no longer alone. His eyes narrowed when he saw Natasha watching them. She was tense, looking as if she was staring at her own reflection when her eyes fell upon Mira.

"Can we talk?" she suddenly asked, breaking the uneasy silence that followed. Beck looked at Mira worriedly, afraid she might lash out at Natasha right then and there. Instead, she surprised him by nodding in agreement. "Alone."

She shot Beck a warning look, and he was about to argue when Mira suddenly nodded in agreement once more. After the way she had reacted earlier, he would have thought for sure Mira wouldn't want anything to do with these Users. But she was full of surprises, just like every other User he seemed to meet along the way.

"Are you sure?" he asked warily.

"Yeah," she replied, glancing at Natasha through narrowed eyes.

He realized that this was something they both needed to get off their chests. And something told him that this wasn't a conversation he didn't want to hear. So he decided to leave them be, for now. That didn't mean he would go very far.

…

Awkward silence filled the room once Beck had left. Mira hardly noticed the pain in her hands as she stared blankly ahead. If Natasha had noticed the new injuries, she didn't give any indications of caring. Eventually, Mira broke the silence by asking a question she had running through her mind since discovering Natasha's secret.

"Why?" was all she could ask, earning a look of surprise from Natasha. "You knew even before all of this that I was your daughter. Why didn't you have the courage to tell me?"

Natasha flinched and let out a sigh of frustration.

"Mira, there are some things about my past that even you wouldn't want to know about," she replied by trying to change the subject. Mira just glared at her as she leaned against the wall and let her shoulders sag. "When I was your age, I was taken in by the Red Room. It was a secret organization run by the KGB. By the time I was old enough, they started sending me out on field missions. But before that, there was a… graduation ceremony."

Mira eyed her warily when she saw the haunted look flash in Natasha's eyes. This was clearly something she hadn't wanted to tell anyone; let alone someone she was supposed to call her daughter. It was painfully obvious that Natasha wasn't even sure how to act around her now. The only thing she did know was that the truth was better than lying.

"Children were nothing more than a distraction. Their method to ensure that never happened was to sterilize anyone who went through the program." By now, Mira felt her blood run cold as she realized what Natasha meant by that. "So you can imagine my surprise when I found out five years later after a one-night mission with Barton that I was pregnant. I knew that if the KGB ever found out, they would take you away. They would have turned you into a ruthless killer."

It took a while for this information to sink in. Mira thought back to the way she was strapped to a chair, her eyes blindfolded as she heard people shouting in anger. Was that more than just a memory? She couldn't shake off the feeling that if Natasha hadn't given her up, she would have met the same fate. At last, she understood why Natasha had done what she did.

"You were only protecting me," she whispered.

"No, I was protecting myself," she corrected Mira, earning a look of surprise from her. "True, in my own way I was protecting you. But at the time, I didn't care. Having a one-night affair with the enemy is punishment enough. I was trying to extract information, which was the easy part."

Mira only smirked at that, having already guessed that Clint would have made an easy target at the time. She let out another sigh after realizing that telling her all of this must have been difficult. It took trust and confidence, which was something that she didn't have.

"Thank you," she said after a moment of silence followed. Natasha looked at her in surprise. "I'm guessing you don't tell anyone that story due to trust."

She understood all too well what that was like. Her own lack of faith in herself had often gotten in the way of how she handled situations. This conversation was just another reminder of the many issues she suffered from.

"Well, it's good to see that you're finally getting along." Both of them looked up in surprise when Clint joined them. "Tony wanted Bruce to run a medical exam on your injuries," he added, and Mira didn't miss the look he was giving her after noticing her injured hands.

 _Well, because this day hasn't been any better_ , Mira thought with a roll of her eyes. The infirmary was a place she hated visiting. After receiving several injuries and waking up here more times than she could care to count, this place only meant bad news for her. Bruce and Tony were already in the infirmary when she arrived.

"Alright, before we even get started, I just want to reassure you that everything we're about to say is my fault," Tony said before she could ask what the hell she was doing here in the first place. She narrowed her eyes as she wondered what he meant by that. "After we looked through your memories – and this is the part where you stay mad at me – we decided to run a little test and see just what happened on the Grid."

Her eyes widened in shock when Tony mentioned looking through her memories. And that was when all hell broke loose.

"You looked through my memories?!" she shouted, causing Bruce, Clint and Natasha to flinch. "Do you have any idea just how violating that is?!"

"See, this is where you're supposed to blame me," Tony said halfheartedly. Mira only glared back.

Tony shook his head in frustration before looking at the others, hoping they would help him out of this mess.

"Look, we only looked into them because there were certain… questionable events that occurred," Bruce intervened, wincing at his own poor excuse.

Honestly, he wouldn't have been bothered into looking at her memories. But curiosity about the Grid and what it was like had gotten the better of him, and everyone else in the tower. When Tony finally showed them the footage, they were all appalled and disgusted with what they had seen. Though, it was aimed mostly towards the way she had been treated while she was on the Grid.

"What do you mean by questionable?" Mira demanded, her mind spinning with more questions than answers.

"You really don't know, do you?"

She only shook her head when Clint asked that, then she glared at Tony again as he already had an answer to one of those many questions.

"While you were unconscious, in Clu's prison… he ran experiments on you," Bruce explained before Tony could. "We think this might have something to do with the fact that you healed so quickly after receiving those injuries."

That only left her reeling with shock. A moment of panic suddenly rushed through her as she wondered what else Clu had done to her while she was unconscious. She couldn't help but shiver at the cold realization that he could have committed far worse acts.

"One little blood sample is all it takes for us to find out what he's done," Tony added, sounding a little more enthusiastic than he should.

…

"Does your boss know anything about this?" Mira asked.

She grimaced as Bruce tried as gently as he could to take the blood sample after he'd wrapped bandages around her bloodied hands. She was thankful Clint hadn't mentioned anything about it, other than a stern look that said it all. He wasn't any happier with the fact that she'd injured herself than she was for being stuck in this situation. The only consolation she had was that they would finally figure out what Clu had done to her while she was stuck in his prison.

"He only knows about you," Clint replied. "Any ideas of sharing what happened on the Grid with SHIELD is out of the question."

He glared pointedly at Tony, who merely shrugged as if it didn't mean anything.

"Don't look at me," he said crossly. "I'd be more worried about Romanoff sharing it with them."

Mira felt her blood run cold at that thought. Natasha wouldn't stoop so low that she would share whatever information was gathered her with SHIELD, would she? That was the last thing Mira hoped for. Natasha had already slipped away while they were discussing how to go about taking her blood sample. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to dwell on it as Bruce studied the blood sample he'd collected. His face furrowed in confusion as he kept running scans, and that only left Mira feeling more anxious than ever.

"This is more complex than I first imagined," he sighed. "Your blood sample is almost as complex as the Other Guy. It could take me some time to figure it out."

That wasn't something she had hoped for. But if anyone could find anything about what Clu had done, it was Bruce. She had read enough stories recently about his work to know what he was capable of. All they could do now was wait. And all the while, Cyrus was still out there. His oddly quiet behavior left her wondering if he had given up, or if he was just biding his time. Either way, they couldn't just sit around and do nothing about it.

* * *

 **AN: And there's that chapter. I know it's slightly shorter than the others, but, it also gives an explanation as to why Natasha did the things she did. Also, when I first wrote this, I had no idea where I was going with it. Hopefully I did Natasha's background story some justice - I may or may not have had to watch Age of Ultron a few times just to get the idea in my mind. Thanks again to Retrokill for reviewing!**

 **Retrokill - XD That's okay, I know what that's like. And yeah, when I first wrote this, AOU wasn't even out yet. So, at the time, wasn't even aware of Clint and his happy little family. I might find some way of incorporating that into the next story, though ;)**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Another day went by with no sign of Cyrus or anything about him on the news. In fact, everyone had been talking about the latest leak on the Avengers. Mira frowned when she realized these Users weren't going to let this go anytime soon. She couldn't even step outside the tower without Users pouncing on her and asking questions. So she was forced to stay in the tower and wait for the results of the blood samples Bruce had taken.

Finally, after what had felt like hours, she was called into the lab instead of the infirmary. She wasn't surprised to find Clint leaning over the computer screen along with a very impressed Tony and Bruce. The only other User she hadn't seen other than Steve was Natasha. She had a feeling Natasha had slipped away to inform SHIELD about what was happening at the moment. Not that that notion surprised her after what Tony had said about her the other cycle.

 _I seriously hope she hasn't told them about my_ … _history_ , Mira thought with a shiver. The last thing she wanted was for more Users to think she was in desperate need of help or sympathy. She didn't want any of it. Xilacycles of living on her own taught her that sympathy was just another form of weakness. She didn't want anyone to think of her as weak, especially after everything she had already been through.

"So, what are the results?" she asked, earning looks of surprise from all three Users.

Clearly they were so drawn in by whatever was on the screen that they hadn't even noticed her arrival. That couldn't be any good.

"Well, I was able to find bits and pieces of the… _data_ that Clu had given you," Bruce explained after searching for the right words. Mira couldn't help but wince at that. It almost sounded like he was comparing her to a program. She suddenly found herself wondering if it was even possible for something like that to happen. If a User could appear more like a program than a User. "The code was complex, so much so that it took me all night, and the help of Jarvis to understand what he did."

"I must say, the fact that you've managed to survive at all is quite impressive, Miss Barton," Jarvis suddenly chimed in, and Mira flinched once again.

It was going to take time for her to get used to the fact that she was Clint's daughter, along with Natasha's. She had a feeling that she would never fully recover from that shock. Most Users would have been happy to find out that they had found their birth parents. But she wasn't. She couldn't bring herself to admit that finding out the truth only made her feel worse.

"Clu gave you what appears to be enhancements… from strength, agility to something else we weren't able to make out," Bruce went on. "In a way, it almost resembles the Super Soldier Serum."

Mira rose an eyebrow in surprise at that. She remembered hearing about the Super Soldier Serum. So many scientists had tried recreating it over the last seventy years since Captain America. Even Bruce was guilty for trying to recreate it, but his attempt had resulted in something far more dangerous.

"So what exactly does this mean?" she asked.

"There's something else that's more… unsettling," Bruce suddenly added, ignoring her question and earning a glare shortly after. "When Cyrus' disk made contact with your bloodstream, it seems like some kind of fail-safe was activated… Whatever code was used to keep Cyrus' disk is now infecting your system."

That only left Mira feeling more worried than ever. She had seen the way Cyrus behaved and the way his pixels looked mixed with blood. She could only imagine what it would have cost to keep his disk in the Real World. And of course, because he had sliced his disk across her arm, now she was going to share the same fate as him.

"So from what you're implying, Cyrus infected me with a virus," she guessed, and Bruce nodded in response. "But… how is that even possible? You're making it sound like I'm more program than User."

"Sorry, it's more of a force of habit than anything else," Bruce apologized with a shrug. "You definitely have human DNA, but whatever Clu did made it more complex than it already was."

Clu. Every single time she thought of him, she didn't think he could get any worse. She wondered if Flynn had known all this time what Clu had been doing. If he had known that Clu was holding a User prisoner, if he had known what Clu was doing to said prisoner, maybe he would have fought back harder. Or he would have done nothing at all.

 _Even_ Tron _didn't know I was on the Grid until we met_ , she reminded herself. The problem with that theory was, she had arrived on the Grid before the coup. Which only led her wondering why Tron wasn't able to scan her disk from day one.

"Is there a way to cure the virus?" Clint asked this time.

She was surprised he had the patience to stand around and listen. Then again, he was around when Tony had showed everyone her memories. Of all the Users who had watched those memories, he was the most concerned.

"There might be… but it wouldn't be easy," Bruce explained after exchanging a knowing look with Tony. "We'd need the source of the virus before we could find a cure."

Well that was just great. Mira's stomach twisted with anger as she realized the only way they could find a cure was through Cyrus. And that bastard wouldn't show his face around them anytime soon. There might be the possibility of finding a cure on the Grid, but she highly doubted they would fly all the way back to Flynn's arcade.

"No." Clint's response was firm and steady.

"Told ya he'd say no," Tony said with a smug look. "Look, we may not need to find Cyrus if I finish the experiment I've been working on." Mira couldn't help but cringe at that term. After hearing what Clu had done to her while she was unconscious in his prison, she was less than happy with the term. "I've been trying to figure out a way to design a Portal, one that would open up on the Grid. And maybe through that, you could find the cure."

Mira frowned the moment she had thought of it. Finding a cure would not be easy, just as Bruce had implied. What it meant, though, was that even if she did have healing capabilities, the virus would prevent them from functioning properly.

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy," she sighed after giving it some thought. "Back on the Grid, viruses were more common than you would probably realize. One virus was as bad as they get… Abraxas almost destroyed an entire city, and the only way to stop him was by derezzing him, and everyone he infected."

All three Users looked at her in surprise. She rarely talked about the Grid unless it was in small, subtle stories. But talking about viruses was something that should be taken as more of a warning. She knew that if the virus did take its toll, the end results could be disastrous.

…

"So, is Natasha telling your boss everything she knows about me?" Mira asked when she noticed the User who was supposed to be her mother had disappeared.

She and Clint were on their way to the common room. Since Natasha had slipped away unnoticed a few hours ago, Mira had no doubt that she was with SHIELD at the moment. A shiver of unease swept through her as she wondered how much information Natasha would give them on her own past. While she understood why it was important for them to know everything, it still left her feeling uneasy and annoyed that she had no say in the matter.

"She wouldn't stoop that low," Clint reassured her. Not with her trust on the line. Mira still didn't know whether she could trust Natasha, even if she had trusted her with a story of her own dark past. "She's just trying to clear things up with Director Fury. He wasn't too thrilled about the latest news."

 _Oh, I could imagine_. Mira wasn't sure who Director Fury was, but she had heard his name mentioned several times throughout the facility she and Beck were kept in for a few weeks. Some Users weren't all that happy with the Director, while others said his name with high praises.

She kept quiet after reaching the common room. After reading a few more files that they had hacked into, she knew full well that the subject of the battle in New York wasn't a good one. Clint's particular history with the battle left her feeling uneasy. She remembered everything that he had said when Natasha managed to flush Loki out of his mind.

" _Do you know what it's like to be remade, and have someone else in your mind?_ "

Those chilling words reminded her all too much of what Clu had done to so many programs on the Grid. They were remade into his image, an image that would eventually fail.

"Natasha told me about her… history with the Red Room," Mira admitted, suddenly wishing she could have thought of a better way to say that.

She found it odd that Natasha was willing to trust her with her own secrets and bloody past. But maybe this was Natasha's way of gaining _her_ trust. She wasn't sure what to make of Natasha's story. As complicated as it was, she realized that Natasha had been right to give her up for adoption. Still, she found herself wondering if _he_ would have wanted to keep her, despite Natasha's concerns. She couldn't help but glance at Clint self-consciously at the thought.

"So you know why she had to give you up," Clint pointed out, earning a glare seconds later.

He seemed more surprised that Natasha was so open about her past. From what it sounded like, Natasha hadn't told too many Users the truth.

To her relief, she was saved from having to say anything more when he was called away by his phone. She knew where that conversation would have led, and she was in no hurry to talk about it. The fact that she was given up as a baby had left her feeling as if no one had ever cared.

She found Beck and Steve in the common room once she arrived, playing a game of chess. Mira rose an eyebrow in surprise when she noticed that Beck was winning. Rinzler was laying on the sofa as he watched the two curiously. Steve seemed perfectly fine around Rinzler, even if he was a little different from the average house cat.

Beck's moment of triumph was short-lived when Steve managed to check-mate. Chess was one of those games Mira had never understood, and probably wouldn't care to. Beck was lucky he didn't have the same lack of trust towards Users. He could get along with just about anyone and still act like his normal self.

"So, what happened?" Beck asked when they returned to her room, Rinzler following close behind.

Rinzler started chasing a laser pointer when Mira found one hidden in her dresser. She couldn't help but smirk at the sight as he tried jumping at the red dot, claws extended before it disappeared. The look of disappointment and confusion that followed made finding the laser pointer worth it.

"Well… both Clint and Natasha talked," she explained warily. "About things I would rather not hear again. And Tony wanted a reading on my DNA to confirm that it was true." Beck rose an eyebrow at that, and Mira held back a sigh of frustration. This was not something she had wanted to talk about with him, especially given their history with Clu. "Look, we discussed a few things that I'd rather not talk about to anyone else. This is something that I'll keep to myself."

She didn't want to openly admit that Clu had experimented on her, and probably did far worse things while she was unconscious. Honestly, she dreaded to see how Beck would handle the news. Beck narrowed his eyes, and for a moment, she was afraid he might insist that she tell him. To her relief, he didn't press on the subject.

"Did they mention anything else?"

She let out a sigh and stared at the ceiling, wondering how she could explain the information about Cyrus' disk and the virus that was now infecting her. It wasn't like she had asked for this virus to affect her. But now it was, and she didn't know whether or not she would survive.

"You remember how Cyrus managed to keep his disk?" she asked warily, and Beck nodded in response. Rinzler chose that moment to jump onto the bed and sit between them, licking his paw clean as he had triumphantly 'caught' the light. "Bruce ran a little research on the disk and how he was able to keep it from disappearing in the Real World. As it turns out, there was a virus affecting his disk, and his code."

It took Beck a few seconds to understand what that meant. Then his eyes widened in panic as he realized where this was going. Cyrus had left a clean cut across her arm with his disk. She was fully aware of the consequences from that cut, and the contact from his disk.

"That means you could…"

Beck couldn't find the courage to finish his sentence as cold realization dawned on him. Viruses needed to be treated as such. She knew that on the Grid, there was a way to cure the original carrier. But to fix the code required a lot of concentration, and finding the original carrier to begin with.

"Beck, I know what's going to happen," she told him, her eyes locking with his as she gently took his hand. "The only way to cleanse the virus is through finding the original carrier. Without them, it's impossible for anyone to survive."

"I've already lost you once… I can't lose you again," Beck whispered. She didn't realize just how much Beck actually cared for her, and it made her feel all the guiltier. "Are you sure there's not another cure?"

"As far as I know, there isn't," she replied with a shrug.

She was surprised at how well she had taken the news to begin with. Maybe after everything she had been through, a little virus felt like nothing. She was so used to feeling pain and fighting a never-ending battle.

"So that's it?" Beck's question caught her off guard. "You're just giving up, after everything we've been through?"

His accusation made her flinch. She realized that it was selfish of her to give up just like that. But unless Cyrus was captured, she really didn't have much of a choice. She knew that in the end, it didn't matter whether or not she survived. Taking Cyrus down was what mattered the most at the moment.

"Who said anything about giving up?" she asked crossly. Beck finally locked eyes with her once again, and she noticed his were dark with worry and fear. She suddenly felt guilty for not telling him about what Clu had done to her. "Now you're starting to sound like Tron," she said halfheartedly.

Tron's attitude must have rubbed off on him. He would have said the same thing, called her out and kicked her sorry butt for giving up. Though truthfully, Tron did make a good point when she had thrown herself into harm's way. She was no stranger in placing herself in danger, which was a constant argument between them.

"Sorry, I just…" Beck began muttering before stopping himself.

He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence, and Mira squeezed his hand gently. She rested her head against his shoulder, and not for the first time, she was thankful for his support. It was the mutual support he shared that she relished more than anything else. She hadn't realized until than just how much his comfort meant to her.

"Everything is going to be fine," she reassured him, knowing full well that wasn't true. "We've gotten through worse situations together."

Besides, it wasn't like this was the first life-threatening situation she had gone through. She had a feeling that this time might be different, though.

…

Natasha frowned as she watched the security footage play through over and over again. Mira's conversation with Clint and Beck left her feeling uneasy, and ashamed. At one time she would have given away information about Mira's history on the Grid. But now she was keeping that part a secret. If SHIELD knew about the enhancements Clu had given her, they would never leave her alone. When she realized that the same girl was also the child she had given up all those years ago, keeping her protected and safe had become her main priority. It would never make up for what had happened to her on the Grid, but at least it was a start.

"Those two are an accident waiting to happen," agent Maria Hill said after watching the video as well. Her eyes were narrowed as she saw how close they were. How much he cared for the girl who had clearly suffered far more than she was willing to let on. "It's obvious they care for each other," she added after Natasha glared at her.

"Any word on Cyrus?"

Knowing full well the dangers that Cyrus had put everyone in, Natasha was more than eager to put him down. Especially after seeing everything he had put both Mira and Beck through. Knowing that her daughter was right under her nose had put her on edge. She figured that it was motherly instinct kicking in, and honestly, she didn't want them putting their lives at risk again.

"The files he hacked into were all erased," Maria explained with a shrug. "He was the one who sent the Daily Bugle that information about _her_. We've been tracking his movements ever since, but so far we've had no successful scans."

That wasn't much of a lead. Mira's theory about Cyrus jumping between Portals was true. Natasha should have known she would know more about Portals and the Grid than anyone else. It was just another painful reminder of what she had gone through to get this far in life.

"Looks like we've finally got a lead," Director Fury announced after returning from a phone call with Clint. "The latest energy reading is from Central Park. Cyrus hasn't gotten very far if he's trying to escape. Agent Romanoff, you know what to do."

"Already on it," she called over her shoulder after heading straight for the quinjet.

Getting off the Hellicarrier would be a relief. She'd been stuck there for less than a few hours and she could already hear the rumors spreading like wildfire. Taking her aggravation out on Cyrus was the best gift Fury had given her all day.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Sir, what happens when this is over?"

Maria stood beside Fury as they kept a close eye on Central Park. News of Cyrus' latest attack had spread throughout the city, and people were making it a point to avoid visiting the park. Which made Romanoff's job that much easier.

"They haven't shared all of the details," Fury replied, sounding more miffed than he should have been. "Which leads me to believe that whatever this girl has gone through, they aren't willing to disclose that information."

Maria crossed her arms as she thought of the video footage they did manage to find on the girl in question. Something about that girl left her feeling uneasy. She was a lot like Romanoff, in a way. She didn't seem to trust anyone as far as everyone was aware. That made things all the more complicated. If they did anything to break the girl's trust, things would go south very quickly. She made a potential enemy that shouldn't be treated so lightly.

Whatever happened in the near future, she knew that SHIELD wouldn't let this go anytime soon. That girl was put under SHIELD's radar, and not in a good way.

…

The park had been cleared as soon as the aircraft landed. Natasha wasn't surprised to see Cyrus already waiting for her. He lifted the cloak that concealed his face. White lines could be made out; they glowed in an almost eerie way.

She stepped out of the helicopter just as Cyrus began to approach. Wind swept past them, causing the cloak Cyrus had on to sway slightly.

"I had a feeling you would show up alone," he sneered.

"Intimidating me isn't going to work," she retorted.

The guns strapped along her waist were locked and loaded. In case that didn't work, she kept a dagger strapped to her waste as well. She was more than ready for this fight. After the chaos he had caused over the last few weeks, she wasn't planning on holding back.

"You're just as weak as that other User… I can't wait to see what will happen when the virus takes over," he sneered. Natasha's eyes narrowed with hate as she realized he was playing at a weak-spot. "Even on the Grid, she couldn't fight back, with or without Tron's training."

Now she was angry. She was angry with Cyrus and angry with herself for letting these emotions take over. She raised her gun, ready to fire when he reached for his disk. It was then that she noticed something was wrong with his disk. He never activated it. He only glared as he lunged forward.

She grabbed him by the wrist and flipped him onto his back. Cyrus grunted in pain when she heard the sickening thud. Her eyes widened when she saw strange cubes leaking from a cut on his leg. The Hulk had damaged him, just not enough to crush him.

"You think you can stop me?"

His eyes suddenly flashed a blinding white. She jumped back as smoke fumed from his body. In a matter of seconds, a gaping hole appeared where the explosion had shaken the ground.

Cyrus was still laying there, body trembling as he struggled to stand. Natasha grimaced when she realized that he was more than just badly injured. The explosions were taking their toll on him.

"You're dying," she concluded after observing the nasty markings on his body.

The stripes were no longer glowing. His skin was paler than ever, and the cubes that she had seen earlier were beginning to cover the ground. It was a sickening sight that left her realizing that instead of bleeding, programs turned into a pile of cubes after they were killed.

"No, I'm not finished!" he screamed.

It was a scream of agony.

With a sigh of frustration, Natasha grabbed a stun gun and aimed it at him. Cyrus's eyes widened as a jolting shock coursed through his body. Moments later he fell to the ground, losing consciousness. The cubes had finally stopped falling, leaving Natasha more confused than ever.

"Sir, the enemy has been detained," she announced through her earpiece.

"Well done, Agent Romanoff."

Director Fury's voice was full of relief. It was time they finally had a good look at Cyrus's disk, to find out exactly what he was.

…

Mira found herself in the gym once again early in the morning. Beck had spent the night in her room after their conversation. She hadn't realized until than how much she missed his company, or his comforting touch. It felt like days since she had last stopped by the gym, and she needed to vent off some anger.

She decided to leave him be and focused her attention on something entirely different. Archery was never really something she had taken an interest in, but considering what Clint was capable of, she couldn't resist giving it a try. She hadn't meant to make a big deal out of it, but when she fired an arrow and missed the target, she scowled in annoyance.

 _He makes this look so easy_ , she thought as she tried firing another arrow and missed once again. Firing the arrow itself wasn't all that difficult. It was trying to focus on the target that she had such trouble with. She supposed it took hours of practice to fire at the target without a second thought.

"You're pushing yourself." Mira flinched, and the bow string snapped in half when she pulled too hard. "If you wanted practice, you could've just asked me."

Clint was leaning against the wall, a look of amusement in his eyes as she was caught red-handed.

"Well, I figured this would be a good way to expand my horizons," she muttered with a shrug.

What she really wanted was to learn some new fighting techniques. Having such skills would prove useful in the future, if she had one.

"Alright, first off, you're not focusing on the target." Mira only rolled her eyes after realizing that was exactly what she had been doing. "Focus your attention on the target."

As if to make a point, and to show off, he grabbed a second bow and grabbed an arrow before firing. Once again, Mira rolled her eyes when the arrow hit the bulls-eye. She kept trying after he handed her the bow, and after a few more minutes, she had finally hit the bulls-eye. She couldn't hide the satisfied smirk that followed.

"You know, maybe archery isn't my thing," she decided when she fired a second arrow and it missed.

She knew that if it came to throwing a disk on the Grid, she would easily hit her target. But this was something entirely different. Clint was about to say something in his defense when Jarvis made a random announcement, saving her from another lecture.

"Mr. Stark would like to speak with you immediately," he informed them.

She hardly noticed that Steve had left until looking around in surprise. With a sigh of frustration, she followed Clint to the common room where everyone else was waiting. Beck was avoiding her questioning gaze, and she was all the more worried about where this was headed.

"We're heading for the Hellicarrier," Tony explained, clasping his hands together as he noticed the uneasy looks Bruce was getting. "Apparently, Fury's been busy."

 _What is that supposed to mean_? Mira didn't like cryptic messages. Especially as she realized this meant facing a greater deal than just the Avengers. The last thing she wanted was to face the head honcho of SHIELD. Beck looked just as clueless to what was going on.

On the plus side, they didn't have to go outside and face the public. Only downside was, Mira had no idea where they were going. And to make things worse, it was raining. Thankfully they weren't outside for too long. Tony had already set up a plane to get them to their destination.

"Where exactly are we going?" Beck finally asked once they were inside the cramped space.

"You'll see."

Steve's smirk told Mira that he was telling the truth. Tony had already left the building with his Iron Man suit. Knowing him he had already reached the Hellicarrier.

In a matter of minutes, they had finally reached what she guessed was their destination. Mira couldn't help but look out the small window in awe.

Floating above the city was a huge aircraft of some sort. It reminded Mira a bit of Tesler's ship, only more impressive and bigger. The impressive structure made her wonder how it could even fly.

The moment the plane landed was the moment Mira felt her stomach lurch. Memories suddenly came flooding back, but they weren't her memories.

 _"You're dying." The words were quick and to the point._

 _"What makes you think I'm dying?"_

 _The voice was familiar. It took her a few minutes to recognize it as Cyrus's voice._

 _"I can help you… for a price."_

 _Silence followed the stranger's words. Finally, the sound of footsteps echoed along cold the cold hard floor of a building._

 _"What's your price?"_

 _"Your disk. All of those painful memories you have of your past… all of them will be wiped out. You won't be yourself."_

 _"Just do it!"_

The pain that followed was excruciating. Mira gasped when she realized that the pain she felt was real. So real that it felt as though someone was slicing their disk down her stomach. Black spots were beginning to cloud her vision when she felt someone pulling her arm.

"Mira!" Her eyes widened when she realized that Beck was staring at her in alarm. She stared at him, panic beginning to take over. "What's happening to her?"

Someone shoved him aside; Mira was pretty sure it was Clint.

"The virus is taking over," Bruce replied after realizing what had happened.

That was the last thing she heard before blacking out.

…

"Get her inside, now!"

The plane had finally landed. Time seemed to move painfully slow for them. Panic was something that Beck had learned to deal with since becoming the Renegade. But this was a different kind of fear.

Clint carried Mira while Steve and Bruce rushed ahead. The few agents that were outside stared at them in shock. By now the rain had finally stopped falling, but the floor was still slick.

Beck couldn't take his eyes off of her. She seemed so much smaller compared to Clint, who seemed so determined not to let her go as they walked in.

 _Why start caring now_? he wondered bitterly. They had acted so cold towards them upon their first arrival. Maybe it was a habit Users had. Something that not even tough, heartless killers could hide. Even they had room for love, right?

"What happened?"

Beck's eyes narrowed in shock as Clint nearly shoved aside a tall, dark looking User who had stood in their way just nanocycles before. When it came to getting from one location to another, these Users were determined.

"The virus is taking over," Bruce explained in an almost apologetic manner.

Beck wasted no time in reaching the others. They passed through several narrow hallways. A few agents that were on board had stopped to see what was going on. Others immediately went to work after noticing the new arrivals.

"What happened to her?" one female User had the nerve to ask when she noticed the scars.

Beck shot her a cold glare. These Users were only making things worse as they started whispering to one another, asking where she had gotten those scars. He knew that Mira wouldn't be thanking them anytime soon for asking such questions.

"Please tell me that Cyrus was captured?" Beck rose an eyebrow when Clint asked that, sounding as if he was struggling to control his rage.

"They don't call her the Black Widow for nothing," the female User replied with a shrug. "We've managed to extract the code from his disk, but the transfusion will take longer than expected."

"And you're sure that it's going to work?" Beck asked this time, finding the courage to speak.

"Of course," the User replied. Clearly she didn't realize how much was at stake until receiving a vengeful glare from Clint. "We are one hundred percent positive that it will work," she corrected herself before he could wring her out.

"For your sake, I hope you're right.

Beck didn't miss the venom in Clint's voice; something that Mira had inherited when she was angry.

The User's eyes darkened as she realized the underlying threat in his tone. Clint was deadly serious when he wanted to be, and this was one of those moments. The User pulled out an item from her pocket; it looked similar to the device Keller had used to alter her appearance.

 _Please let this work_ , he begged silently. All he could do now was hope that she would wake up and make a full recovery. Mira had suffered enough near-death experiences over her lifetime.

…

It was quiet inside the Hellicarrier. Strange considering Tony was on board. Maybe the solemn atmosphere had finally shut him up for a change. But that silence wasn't going to last long now that Cyrus was coming to.

Sure enough his fists slammed against the unbreakable glass wall. Well, to put it bluntly, the wall had been cracked by Thor's hammer. Director Fury had finally decided to create a wall that couldn't be cut open or shot at. So try as he might, Cyrus wasn't getting out any time soon. Especially now that he had no disk to use as a weapon.

"I won't be locked in here forever!" he shouted as agents walked by.

A few shot him curious, nervous looks as they returned to their jobs.

His hands dragged along the glass as he tried punching it again. The vibration that followed made his ears ring. Natasha folded her arms as she watched.

Mira and Beck were right about one thing. This 'program' was certainly psychotic. His eyes were wild with fear and hate. The circuits had finally stopped glowing, and his face was paler than ever. But he had survived.

"Does that thing have a mute button?" Tony finally asked. He was on the bridge, which in retrospect wasn't too far from the prison. "I think I liked Loki being our prisoner more than this," he added when Cyrus began throwing a few colorful words.

"He won't be in there for long," Director Fury reassured him. "Once everything is resolved, we'll be moving him to a more secure prison. One he can't get out of."

Natasha flinched at the mention of everything getting resolved. Clint had told her everything. The virus that had infected Mira was slowly killing her. Bruce and Tony had discovered it a few days ago, and it was already slowly taking over. It was the same virus that had nearly killed Cyrus.

"And what about _them_?" she asked warily.

"They'll be kept in a secure location until we figure out what to do with them," Fury replied after narrowing his eye. "We don't know whether or not they are threats to civilians."

"They did nothing wrong," Natasha pointed out.

She rarely argued with Fury, but at this moment, she had to change her opinion. What had happened to Mira was something that SHIELD didn't need to know about. Beck deserved his own share of peace after all of this madness.

"Then what are you suggesting we do with them?" Fury demanded after pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Those kids were more trouble than he first thought. They had somehow wormed their way into the Avengers' hearts, as much as they would try to deny it.

"You know Fury, I've been working on a device similar to the one Flynn invented all those years ago," Tony cut in, earning a glare from them both. "If I can get the funding, and have a chat with Alan Bradley, then maybe we can work together and have it finished."

Director Fury actually looked a little surprised that Tony would have thought this far ahead. Natasha crossed her arms as she realized what this meant. If Tony was able to design another Portal that opened up to the Grid, Mira and Beck could go back.

"What about Clu?" she suddenly asked. Tony only smirked in amusement, mostly because he knew something she didn't.

"Well, let's just say that a little birdie told me about the son of Flynn, who happened to take back his dad's company after all these years," he explained cheekily. "Sam managed to save a file of the Grid – the file his father created before he vanished."

Natasha was surprised by the amount of worry she felt after hearing that bit of information. She had a feeling that if they were given the choice, both Mira and Beck would return to the Grid without hesitation. They hadn't exactly had a welcoming time in this world.

"If they choose to stay on the Grid, then we have no problem," Fury decided after giving Tony's idea some thought. "SHIELD won't give you the funding, but I'm sure Bradley would love to hear from you."

For a moment, Natasha was tempted to ask what would happen if one of them decided to stay. But she let it slide. For now, she decided to check in on Mira. She had responded well to the 'cure' that Bruce was able to create through Cyrus' data. But that didn't mean she was fully recovered.

The dull gray walls didn't help much with the mood. With everyone on high alert, and Mira in her current condition, it had been oddly quiet. Bruce and Steve were off somewhere in the Hellicarrier, while Tony continued complaining about Cyrus and his obnoxious voice.

She raised an eyebrow when she saw Beck sitting beside the bed Mira had been placed on. He had not moved since they arrived. Natasha held back a sigh when he finally looked over his shoulder.

"You should get some sleep." It was obvious that he was exhausted.

"She's going to be fine, right?" His question caught her by surprise.

 _Love is for children_. Those words kept ringing in her mind, but suddenly she understood just how difficult it was to keep those feelings at bay. Natasha bit the bottom of her lip before joining him. From the memories she had seen, they had been together for a long time. That kind of partnership was rare to come by these days.

"She'll be fine," she replied.

"It's not fair," Beck suddenly muttered. "I'm the one that let Cyrus out."

"Beck, you need to sleep." They really were a lot alike. Blaming themselves for the mistakes they've made. "We're all keeping an eye on her," she added when he still didn't move.

That was an understatement. The hidden cameras throughout the Hellicarrier would be keeping an eye on all of them.

He looked like he was ready to argue when he thought better of it. Glancing one last time at Mira, Beck finally stood up and returned to the sleeping quarters. The nurse had used the opportunity to take a blood sample while she could. Knowing Beck, he'd been watching them like a hawk.

"They really are fascinating," the nurse commented after observing the tablet she'd taken with her. "Cyrus' disk is like nothing we've ever seen. With that technology there's no telling what we can do."

Natasha rolled her eyes as she backed out of the room, half embarrassed that she'd just said such a thing. True, technology could always lead to good things. But in the end people often used it against one another.

She thought back to what she had told Mira when they were alone in the gym. Despite her earlier misgivings, she and Mira shared more similarities than she would like to admit. If Tony was able to develop a device that sent them back to the Grid, she wouldn't stop them.

Carefully, she leaned forward and kissed Mira on the forehead. She had grown up without a mother, just like her. The least she could do was start treating Mira as she was, her own flesh and blood.

"You are everything I ever wanted," she whispered.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the delay in updates! I'm trying to keep it every Tuesday and Thursday, but, I might just have to keep it every Tuesday... for multiple reasons :P As for the way this chapter was written, it still feels choppy to me, but I think this flows better than the original. Plus, Natasha finally comes to terms with the truth ^^ Next chapter will be out next week, that much I can promise. Thanks to Retrokill for reviewing!**

 **Retrokill - XD Yeah, sorry for the delay in updating... my life has been getting hectic D: I have all of these chapters already written out, it's just a matter of getting to a computer and updating them. And yep, they're finally getting closer... next few chapters should be interesting with that thought in mind :)**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

Three days. It had been three days since they'd arrived at the Hellicarrier. Three days since the virus took its hold on Mira. And she still had not recovered. The nurse had said that it would take time for her system to respond, whatever that meant.

It was like watching a video in slow motion. She hadn't even moved since they arrived. According to the female User who often checked on Mira, she was in what they called a coma. Her system was still recovering from the infection, and whatever else Cyrus had done to her. He just wished that there was more he could do for her. Seeing her in this state was enough of a reminder of how vulnerable Users really were.

"I wish there was more I could for you," Beck finally sighed out loud as he watched her.

He never felt more helpless. If he could he would go through a hundred black guards to bring her back. Of all the programs he had met on the Grid, she was the one who had pulled him out of his darkest times. She was the one who kept reminding him who he was fighting for at the time. And she was the one who continued helping him build his confidence. He would never forget everything she had done, or everything she had been through herself.

He brushed his hands across her hair, careful not to disturb her. Reddish bangs were brushed aside, revealing a face that bared a striking resemblance to Natasha. Beck hadn't realized until now just how similar they looked. Yet she was more than just another User, and she was certainly more than what those Users could call themselves. She was beautiful.

"I love you."

The words had come out as a whisper. He didn't expect her to hear them. At that moment, he realized that he had no regrets following her through that Portal. No matter what happened, he would always love her.

…

Familiar faces appeared before Mira as she finally opened her eyes. The brilliant lights of the Grid stretched around her, illuminating them. She blinked several times to get a better view of each program. To her surprise, and to her alarm, they were programs from her past, or the programs that Clu had either derezzed or repurposed.

But surrounding them were programs she assumed still lived.

"Am I back on the Grid?" She was surprised how quiet her voice was.

"No… not quite." Mira jumped when she heard an unfamiliar voice. She whirled around to see a dark figure standing behind her. The figure was wearing a cloak, similar to the one Cyrus had worn. Instinctively she reached for her disk, only to find that it was gone. "Don't worry, I'm not a threat."

"Who are you?" The voice sounded strangely familiar.

"Just call me the Creator." Mira felt her blood run cold. Kevin Flynn. Speaking to her in person? How was that even possible? From what she had heard, Flynn had either died or vanished into the User world. "I've been watching you for some time now… how you've helped all of those programs, even when they turned their backs on you. That took courage to fight back."

"Running away from my problems isn't exactly what I would call courage," she muttered crossly.

Maybe if she had stayed, they could have fought back. Maybe they could have saved Tron and the rest of the Grid from Clu's reign.

"It never would have worked out," Flynn replied in a gentle voice. "You were meant to return and close those Portals. I wasn't strong enough to finish the task I had started." He paused to let this sink in. Mira raised an eyebrow to see where this was going. "I wanted to thank you, for saving the Real World from Clu. If he had gotten through those Portals, there's no telling what would have happened."

 _I think I know what would have happened_ , Mira suddenly thought. Clu couldn't stand imperfection. What world was more imperfect than the Real World? He would have destroyed everything. And the world would not have been ready for the attack, even with the Avengers there to defend it.

"I'm glad to have helped," she murmured.

"I also wanted to apologize for what Clu did to you," he suddenly added. "His actions were unforgivable, as are mine for not knowing."

Her eyes widened as she realized what Flynn meant by that. She was even more surprised to find herself already forgiving him. Despite her earlier thoughts, none of what had happened was his fault. He couldn't foresee what Clu was planning, or what had happened to her. Some things were meant to happen for a reason.

And for the first time in many, many xilacycles, she finally felt at peace with herself. All of the faces she had seen from her past began to dissolve. Only one face was left in the darkness, reminding her why she had left the Grid in the first place.

"I love you."

Suddenly everything stopped moving. Mira blinked when she recognized the voice. The lights of the Grid suddenly vanished, and she realized that this was just a dream.

 _Wake up_ , she told herself. _Wake up_!

…

" **But I will find my way Out of the dark someday Into a crimson yellow sun I'll follow my baby boy He'll be a silver toy And we'll count the ages as they're ending...** "

The faint sound of music had lulled her awake. It only took her a few seconds to recognize the song that was playing. But the moment her eyes opened was when she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. She winced at the pain, and she only just realized that she must have been in the infirmary once again.

"She's coming to!" Mira flinched at the sound of Tony's voice. She struggled to sit up straighter, only to wince once again from the pain. "Take it easy, kid. You're not out of the dark just yet."

Tony's voice. Mira blinked in surprise when she saw so many Users standing in the same room. Confusion swept through her as she wondered why they were all standing around her as if a miracle just happened. Then again, after everything that had happened lately, she wouldn't have been too surprised if that was the case.

"What happened?" she groaned.

"You were out cold for four days."

Steve's voice. Mira's eyes widened with panic as she wondered if every User on this ship had seen her. The last thing she wanted was for them to think she couldn't take care of herself. She cringed the moment she tried moving again.

To her surprise, Tony, Steve and Bruce had stepped in to keep an eye on her. Clint and Natasha were standing on the other side of the room, looking more than relieved. She suddenly wondered for a moment how long they had been standing there if they were all in the room at the same time.

"The pain's only temporary," Bruce explained when Mira struggled to straighten up again. "We managed to create a serum that took care of the virus that took hold of you."

Mira raised an eyebrow as she wondered what he meant by 'we'.

"Tell us, are you feeling sadistic or psychotic?" Tony's question made her glare at him for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Of course not," she snapped.

 _Unless he considers snapping his head off for his attitude as a reason for being psychotic_ , she added silently.

She yelped in surprise when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. It took her a few seconds to realize that despite the little training they had received on being parents, Clint and Natasha were finally hugging her. This _must_ have been another dream.

"I'm so thankful that you're alright." Her eyes widened when Natasha whispered that.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with the Black Widow?" Since when did Natasha ever share her feelings with anyone?

"That's what we've been wondering," Tony laughed when Natasha shot him an icy glare.

"Wait… where's Beck?" That voice she had heard in her dreams sounded familiar.

 _I hope he didn't worry too much about me_ , she thought.

She couldn't imagine how much panic he must have felt. The attack had happened so quickly. No one was prepared for it when they arrived at the Hellicarrier. And now that she thought about it, she hadn't even noticed until now that was where she was. Clint was the one who told her about what the Hellicarrier looked like before they arrived. And she'd remembered bits and pieces of what it looked like before the virus took over. Now she understood why the infirmary looked so much smaller than what she was used to.

"We kind of forced him to get some sleep," Steve replied after rubbing the back of his neck. "He wouldn't leave the room, not even to eat or drink."

Beck… he really did care too much. He had sacrificed everything by becoming the Renegade. And he knew the cost of choosing that life.

"What about Cyrus?" Mira frowned when she remembered that he was the one who carried the cure.

Surely he wouldn't have been taken down without a fight?

"You can thank Romanoff for that one," Tony replied with a smirk. "Took him down like he was nothing."

Something told Mira that Cyrus wouldn't give up that easily. The fact that his disk had been modified to become a bomb showed just how determined he was. The memories before she had blacked out suddenly came rushing back.

Cyrus had somehow gotten himself injured in more ways than one. A program had offered to help him, but with a great cost. Since that encounter, Cyrus had begun to change. The code the mysterious program had given him was the very virus that had almost killed him.

"Will I be allowed to walk any time soon?" she asked after gripping her stomach to keep down the pain.

"Try resting a bit for the next couple of days," Bruce replied. "We'll run another test to make sure your blood is cleared of the virus cells that were infecting you."

Mira held back a groan of frustration. She had a feeling that by that time she'd be going stir-crazy. But Bruce was the doctor. She'd get out of here sooner if she actually listened to his advice.

"Thank you, for finding the cure," she murmured.

"Well I didn't exactly find the serum on my own," he admitted sheepishly. "Just make sure you get some rest, and you'll be back to your old self in no time."

She bit back a retort, suddenly wishing that there was something she could do to keep herself entertained while stuck in this room. By now she was beginning to hate the infirmary. It seemed like each time she was placed in this room; each injury would get worse.

The worst part was the fact that she'd been placed under SHIELD's radar. She doubted they would let her go so easily once this was over. SHIELD wasn't an organization she could trust. Not after reading all of the files she had uncovered. Whatever happened in the near future, she knew that it would have nothing to do with SHIELD.

…

"You're free to go."

Mira looked at Bruce in surprise when he said that. It had only been about four cycles since she woke up, and her entire system had recovered fully from whatever effects the virus had on her. She knew that whatever Clu had done to her was responsible for her quick recovery. Since Bruce had explained to her that the tyrant ran experiments on her, she wasn't even surprised that they had healed so quickly. She was more surprised that he was willing to let her leave.

"Seriously?" Being stuck there in the hospital had been one of the worst things she had gone through. Though she'd never admit that being stuck in the ICU was far worse. In that facility, she was handcuffed to the hospital bed and had eyes on her every cycle. At least here, she had the ability to move about as she pleased with some restrictions. "Thank you!"

"Just make sure you take it easy," Bruce reminded her once she had climbed out of the hospital bed. "Which means no sparring sessions in the gym," he quickly added as if he had read her mind.

Mira only rolled her eyes before nodding in agreement.

She hated not being able to work out in the gym or have any physical exercise. But he was right. The last thing she wanted at this point was to push herself and be sent to the hospital all over again. She thought back to how often she would push herself on the Grid. Many times she would keep working out in a simulation room or with other programs to the point of exhaustion.

Mira decided to explore the Hellicarrier while she had the chance, instead of staying cooped up in one room. She wandered down extensive hallways, ignoring the curious stares of agents who walked by. Most of them were noticing something oddly familiar about her, and one agent even had the nerve to mistake her for Natasha. She almost felt sorry after the terrified look on their face when they realized how wrong they were.

 _Do I really look that much like her_? she wondered.

After wandering for what felt like pectrocycles, she had finally reached an area that looked familiar enough. Clint had described it to her as the bridge, where operations took place. Here she could see large panel windows that overlooked wherever the Hellicarrier was hovering over. Computer monitors were scattered throughout a lower level while in the center was an area where the Director would normally give his orders.

"Hey, kid. I'm glad to see you're up and about."

Mira flinched at the sound of Tony's voice. She hadn't meant to; flinching was just a natural instinct for when someone decided to randomly start talking to her.

"I hate being cooped up in one place," she muttered crossly. "It makes me feel trapped."

Surprisingly, Tony actually understood what she meant by that, and how she felt.

"Come on, everyone's in the meeting room. I figured you'd want to hear the latest news."

Mira rose an eyebrow at that, wondering just what Tony meant as he led her to another room separate from the bridge. She was surprised to find Beck sitting between Natasha and Steve, while Clint sat across the table, looking bored. Mira refused to look Beck in the eyes as she sat beside Clint.

"So, what's the latest news that Tony was talking about?" she decided to ask as an awkward silence fell upon them.

"Have you ever heard of Kevin Flynn?" Clint asked, showing a file of what looked like ENCOM Tower.

Mira rose an eyebrow at the familiar tower's name. Flynn was famous throughout this world and the Grid. She could still remember seeing him at the arcade when her foster parents brought her there. One mistake she made was following him when she knew how dangerous it must have been. Then again, she'd made more mistakes than she could count over the last few xilacycles. She wasn't a stranger to them or the fact that Flynn likely felt guilty for letting someone follow him to the Grid.

"Yeah, he was the Creator of the Grid," she explained with a shrug. And the reason behind Clu's Betrayal and everything else that had happened. "But before that, I knew him as the owner of Flynn's Arcade."

"Well, his son decided to step up and take charge of ENCOM," Natasha said.

"Turns out, he had a nasty run-in on the Grid himself," Clint put in. "I'm guessing it inspired him to run the company."

That left Mira feeling even more curious as to who the Son of Flynn could be. If he had suffered the same experience on the Grid as her, then he wouldn't be in any hurry to run his father's company. Something told her it was more complicated than that.

"So, why bring this up now?" Beck asked this time, finding the courage to speak again after Flynn was mentioned.

"Because you four are paying ENCOM Tower a little visit first thing tomorrow," a new voice spoke. Mira stiffened when she saw Director Fury arrive. She had only seen him once or twice while in the medical bay, and each time it was not a good or friendly visit. "I'd like to know exactly what Flynn has in mind after taking over the company, especially after promoting Bradley the way he did."

She bit the bottom of her lips as unease crawled through her. Any visit from SHIELD didn't usually end well. She was beginning to realize that the more she thought about it. Whatever Flynn had done, she hoped he knew what he was getting himself into.

"So this all happened overnight?" she asked after reading a bit of the file that Natasha handed her.

"Pretty much," Steve replied. "I honestly have no idea what everyone is talking about. This is way out of my league."

Mira almost paled when she saw an image of Quorra on one of the files. The ISO looked so much happier now; her features hadn't changed all that much, but something was definitely different about her. It had been many xilacycles since Mira last saw her. Seeing her again would feel good, especially since neither of their lives were in danger at the moment. This was one trip she actually looked forward to.

* * *

 **AN: Lyrics in bold come from the song The Ancestor by Darlingside. Quite possibly my favorite Indie-Rock group :) Sorry for the choppiness of these chapters, lately. The good news, and bad news is, that it's almost over. I've got about six more chapters before marking this remake as finished, than I plan on working on Goodbye Ordinary. Though, that might take a little longer, since it'll be a total rewrite. And likely rated M or marked as angst for multiple reasons.**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

Mira glared at the papers that were scattered across the table. She had no doubt what they were for. Her mind was already picking out ways to get out of this mess. Joining SHIELD was the last thing she had in mind at the moment. She didn't want to be anything like her parents. Glancing at another stack of papers, she had no doubt they would try asking Beck whether or not he would 'like' to join. She was surprised they hadn't tried using force.

 _They know what the consequences would be_ , she realized. Director Fury stood in front of her, his posture meant to be intimidating. Oddly enough, Mira found it amusing that he thought he could intimidate her in the first place. She had seen Gridbugs that were scarier looking than him, and that was saying something.

"So let me get this straight, you think I'm actually going to join SHIELD after everything that's happened?" she asked without making eye contact with Fury.

"Given your circumstances, Miss Barton, you should consider yourself lucky that we haven't hauled your sorry ass to prison," Fury snapped.

Mira only glared back in response. She wondered if Natasha or Clint were even aware of what was going on at the moment. Knowing them, they would have approved over the idea of her joining SHIELD. Yet, Mira couldn't find herself enjoying the idea. After everything that had happened, she wasn't in any hurry to join the very agency that tried to keep herself and Beck locked in prison.

"You know, I think I'd rather be stuck on the Grid than join SHIELD," she muttered crossly. "Anything would be better than following your orders."

Fury actually looked a little taken aback by that. Mira remembered saying the same thing to Tron over a xilacycle ago. She couldn't help but smirk at the memory of seeing the look on his face when she told him that. Clearly, Tron wasn't expecting her to be as temperamental as she was. Then again, Flynn had been the only other User he'd met in person. He was probably hoping at the time that she and Flynn would act alike, despite them having no relations whatsoever.

"Look, you can threaten me all you want, but that isn't going to change the fact that I won't join," she added when Fury looked as if he was about to make a retort.

She chose that moment to leave the room before things got any more awkward. Relief washed over her shoulders as she made a good distance between herself and the room that Fury was likely still standing in. She could imagine the amount of surprise he was feeling after she had turned down his offer. He would have likely thought that she would want to follow in her parents' footsteps. The problem was, Mira wanted nothing to do with their line of work.

 _Anything to get under his skin, and annoy the crap out of SHIELD_ , she thought with a smirk. Her momentary happiness was washed away though when she ran into Natasha, almost literally. The User who was supposed to be her mother coughed lightly as they stood there, looking a little dumbfounded and clueless as to what they should say to each other. Ever since their talk on the Hellicarrier, conversations between them had been incredibly awkward. Eventually, Natasha broke the silence by asking a question.

"Did Fury ask you to join SHIELD yet?" she asked as they made their way down to their temporary quarters.

There was still some packing up to do, and soon they would be on their way to ENCOM Tower. The buzz of excitement that seemed to fill the ship over their recent news was almost contagious. Mira couldn't blame the rest of the team for wanting to leave. She hadn't realized until being stuck on the ship herself how boring it could be. Especially since there was literally no place to go other than designated areas on the ship.

"He asked, but he's not getting an answer anytime soon," Mira replied in a tone that said she wasn't in the mood to talk about him.

She thought she detected a smirk from Natasha when they reached their rooms. The redhead was infamous for not showing any emotions or keeping her own answers vague. Not for the first time, Mira wondered over how similar they were personality-wise. She realized with a start that that was likely why so many other Users had been going out of their way to avoid her when she wandered down the halls of the Hellicarrier. They looked alike, and at times, they acted alike. It was a wonder they were terrified of her for that aspect.

"SHIELD won't force you to join," she reassured her. "Not with the Avengers watching their every move."

Mira hoped that she was right about that. The last thing she wanted was for SHIELD to intervene with her life. Right now, she needed time to think about what she would do after all of this was over. If there was even the slightest chance she could go back to the Grid, then she would jump at the opportunity. She was pretty sure Beck would make the same choice. He wasn't overly fond of the Real World to begin with since the attack on the city. Not that Mira couldn't blame him. He'd only seen a small portion of the Real World, and even that was nothing compared to the Grid.

"Hey, Natasha?" she suddenly asked, stopping Natasha in her tracks. "What do you say to someone when things suddenly get awkward between us?"

Natasha rose an eyebrow in surprise before thinking of her response.

"Take your time," she advised her. Mira looked at her warily, wondering if taking her time was really the best option when she realized this was something she had experienced herself. "If he truly loves you, he'll come running back."

"Is that what happened with you and Clint?"

Natasha's eyes flashed at the mention of her partner. Mira remembered hearing all of the rumors across the Hellicarrier about some of SHIELD's best agents. And what happened between them was something that few Users knew about. She chewed the bottom of her lip as she considered the phone calls that Clint had been getting since the news was leaked about her heritage. She couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason behind those calls when she thought about it.

"That's not an easy question to answer," she finally replied once they were outside the room. "He took a different path before I joined SHIELD. And when I finally did join SHIELD… we had different views on the world."

Mira looked down at the floor to think about what she had said. One memory she had seen was the time when Clint was sent to kill Natasha. He had taken a different call. He let her live, despite Fury's orders to take her down. Their lives had changed from that moment on.

"So you really think that will happen?"

She glanced up at Natasha, who was focusing on the agents wandering around the bridge or typing away at the computers. It was obvious that this wasn't a subject Natasha found easy to talk about. Admitting her feelings was one thing that Mira had always found difficult; they had more in common than she wanted to admit. And now, she knew that she had to admit hers sooner or later. Her cheeks flushed at the thought of having to tell Beck how she felt.

"Yes." Mira tried not to flinch when Natasha patted her on the shoulder. "Just give him some time."

Her shoulders sagged in relief as Natasha was called over by Director Fury. She really hoped that Natasha was right. She missed Beck's company, and she desperately wanted their friendship back.

…

Clouds whipped past the jet as they headed for ENCOM Tower. After the Hellicarrier had finally reached Los Angeles, they immediately left for ENCOM Tower. Mira sat next to the window with her earbuds in, listening to the music as she tried to forget about the silent treatment she was getting from Beck (Director Fury had finally given her a regular iPod, already filled with the music she had been listening to. It was better not to ask how he had known what she liked).

" **Oh, no, I see, a spider web, it's tangled up with me, and I lost my head, the thought of all the stupid things I'd said, Oh, no, what's this? A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle, so I turned to run, the thought of all the stupid things I've done**..."

 _Well this song isn't helping much_ , she thought as she listened to the heart-wrenching lyrics. Coldplay really knew how to pull at one's feelings.

" **And I never meant to cause you trouble, and I never meant to do you wrong, and I, well, if I ever caused you trouble, oh no, I never meant to do you harm**..."

Mira tried to close her eyes and think of positive things. She was about to see Quorra again for the first time in who knew how long. Cyrus was finally being placed in prison. She had a family, well, maybe not a _family_ family. More like a super-hero family. It was strange to think that her life could have taken a different turn had she not returned to the Real World. Fate really did work in such strange and mysterious ways.

"We're here."

Mira dropped her earbuds when Clint's voice rose above the blaring music.

"Sorry," she murmured after turning off the iPod.

She glanced back at Beck, wishing that he would stop staring out the window. Since the quinjet had taken off, he hadn't said a word to her. She knew that he wasn't likely going to say anything unless she started a conversation, but the problem was, she didn't even know where to begin.

ENCOM Tower was almost the same height as Stark Tower, maybe a little bigger. The brilliant white letters of 'ENCOM' were spelled out across the tower itself. Mira couldn't help but smirk as she realized the lettering looked very similar to what the entrance of a city would look like on the Grid.

She only just noticed how cold it was after stepping out of the quinjet, and rolled her sleeves down after shivering for a few nanocycles. She hadn't realized it would be so cool upon their arrival, and judging by the look on Beck's face, he hadn't realized either. Once again, she was thankful to have brought a sweater with her.

Clint and Natasha led the way to the door. Someone was waiting for them, looking rather annoyed at the new arrivals. Mira frowned when she recognized his slim appearance. Short brown hair, wearing a pair of glasses and a nicely trimmed beard.

"Mr. Dillinger."

His arms folded as Natasha explained why they were there.

"So, you're the kid everyone's been talking about."

Edward Dillinger Junior.

Mira had seen pictures of him on SHIELD's data base. According to some rumors, he was part of a big scheme to overthrow Flynn. But at that time he was about Sam's age. By the time she was able to finish her research on him, she found that he was finally 'dethroned' by Sam when he took over his father's business. The fact that Sam was willing to take back his father's business told her that he had experienced something similar, and maybe had an understanding as to why his father had disappeared all those xilacycles ago.

"You can let them in, Eddie." Edward grimaced when someone called him by what Mira guessed was a bad nickname. "Unless you'd rather spend the night cleaning the toilets."

Edward finally stepped aside to let them in, glaring at the stranger that had spoken. The glare Natasha gave him almost made Mira laugh. She wished she had a camera with her. His face paled before he looked away, hiding the sudden fear that had taken over.

"Hi. Alan Bradley, right?"

Natasha was really taking her job seriously. Alan didn't look nearly as terrified as Edward, but he seemed just as uneasy. Mira's eyes widened as she stared at the elderly looking man, who seemed oblivious to her stares along with Beck's.

It didn't take a genius to realize _who_ he looked like. Well, a younger version of who he looked like, anyways. Mira's heart nearly skipped a beat when she realized that this must be Tron's Creator. Alan's eyes fell upon Mira and Beck, and he rose an eyebrow after noticing that they were still staring until Natasha elbowed the both of them.

"Sorry, you just look really… familiar," Mira blurted out, earning a look of amusement from Alan.

"I get that a lot," Alan replied. "I've heard quite a lot about you from Quorra. She was pleasantly surprised to find you'd made it out of the Grid alive."

Mira exchanged a look of disbelief with Beck. At that moment, Natasha and Clint wore blank expressions at the mention of Quorra, or how close they had been before Mira decided to leave her. She took a deep breath before following Alan and the others towards the offices.

An awkward silence filled the air as they passed several rooms with the doors closed. The walls were bleached white. A few pictures of Los Angeles and Users Mira didn't recognize were hung here and there. In all the building reminded her of a normal office building.

"There they are."

Mira stopped dead when she saw the open door. Alan smirked when he noticed her expression. Her mind began to churning with anxiety as she tried to figure out what to do or say. She knew that they had a lot of catching up to do since they parted ways. The problem was, she didn't even know where to begin. If what Flynn had said was true, then Quorra must have told him about her. And she suddenly wondered what else he knew about her involvement on the Grid.

"Are you okay?" Clint noticed Mira's worried expression as she stared at the doorway.

"Yeah… I'm fine," she replied a little too quickly.

She bit the bottom of her lip as they walked into the room.

What she saw next nearly took her breath away. Sam was standing at his desk, staring at a computer while Quorra stared outside the window. He paused from his searching and looked up to see Natasha and Clint standing in the room.

Sam was nothing like Mira had anticipated. He looked, to put it bluntly, almost like Beck. Only his hair was a lighter shade of blonde. And he seemed to notice the similarities when he spotted Beck standing beside Natasha. Mira suddenly felt self-conscious under his curious gaze before looking back at Natasha and Clint.

"Hey, I'm glad you stopped by," he said after shaking Natasha's hand. "Natasha and Clint, right?"

"Yes, of course," Natasha replied.

Mira tried not to smirk when Natasha kept her usual calm posture. There were times when she wished she could maintain that kind of posture instead of letting her emotions get the better of her. She knew it would have saved herself and Beck from getting into trouble on more than one occasion on the Grid.

"I've actually got something I was hoping you would take a look at," Sam explained when he noticed Mira standing beside Clint. "Quorra and I have been working on this project for the last few days."

At the mention of her name, Quorra suddenly turned and stared at the four newcomers in surprise. Then her eyes fell upon Mira, who met her startled gaze.

"Why don't we discuss your plans outside," Natasha suggested when an awkward silence filled the room.

Sam seemed more than happy to agree. He grabbed the laptop and followed Natasha and Clint outside, leaving Mira and Beck to face Quorra alone.

* * *

 **AN: A slightly shorter chapter, but, important nonetheless. I loved throwing in other characters introduced in Legacy. Dillinger was never my favorite, but, I feel like he deserved some mention, at least :P Not to mention I do have a strange love for Alan Bradley. I'll have to give him some more cameo appearances in the next installment. I also wanted to apologize for my week-long hiatus. I've been fighting a really bad cold, and had pink eye for a while, too D: Basically, writing was not easy, for me.**

 **Also, the lyrics come from the song Trouble by Coldplay :)**

 **Retrokill - XD It did take them long enough, didn't it? We'll just have to wait and see how long it takes for them to admit it out loud, and to each other, without freaking out :P**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Mira, it's been such a long time!"

It took everything she had not to stiffen in surprise when Quorra rushed over to hug her. She still hadn't gotten used to the physical contact that humans seemed to enjoy offering. Quorra was no stranger to giving out hugs to friends. She couldn't hide the smile of relief that followed and returned the gesture, thankful to see another familiar face.

"It's good to see you too, Quorra," Mira replied.

Quorra stepped back and grinned when she noticed Beck.

"And you must be the infamous Renegade I've heard so much about." Beck frowned at the term. "Don't worry, the Creator was watching over you. He always said that you were more than just a program."

This time it was Mira's turn to frown. She remembered that dream she had, before she had woken up from that coma. The Creator, Kevin Flynn, had spoken to her. Did that mean… he was dead? She glanced at Quorra, whose expression was impossible to read.

"Did he ever know?" Mira suddenly found the courage to ask.

She couldn't resist asking, even though Flynn himself had told her that he had known that she was on the Grid the entire time. Like Tron, he couldn't track her down because of the contents on her disk. They never did figure out the reasons behind that. Mira suspected it had something to do with the fact that Castor had given her a disk, rather than being offered one by the Sirens who normally handed them out.

"I told him when he found me," Quorra explained with a confirming nod. "You could imagine how appalled he was when he found out what Clu did to you. To the day Sam showed up, Flynn blamed himself for everything that happened."

Now it was Mira's turn to feel slightly guilty. For so many xilacycles, she had blamed Flynn for everything that had happened. She should have blamed Clu, but she was blinded by anger and frustration. And now it was her turn to explain what had happened to her after they parted ways.

She explained how she had ended up getting stuck in Argon City after a failed attempt on the black guard's count in catching her in Purgos. Of course, that failure was what had led to the break malfunctioning on her light cycle. And that was what had led her to stopping by Able's garage, where everything changed in a split nanocycle. Perhaps it really was fate that had brought them all together, but at that moment, Mira suddenly wondered if it was all worth it in the end. By the time she was finished, she was out of breath, and Quorra was still taking in the realization that Tron had been alive all this time.

"Wow… that's a lot to take in," Quorra finally murmured.

"It's been difficult. But… at least I'm not alone." Mira glanced at Beck, who looked more embarrassed than anything else.

She hadn't mentioned the time when she was captured by Clu again, or the fact that he'd been using her as some kind of lab rat. A shiver swept through her at the thought of having to explain that one. The truth was, she didn't know how Quorra would handle the news of what Clu _really_ did to her.

"You have no idea." Quorra's eyes lit up when she glanced at Beck. "The project Sam and I have been working on has something to do with the Grid," she added. "Sam's really taken on to his father's idea. He wants to recreate the Grid."

Mira looked at Quorra in disbelief. Had the Grid been destroyed since they last saw it? Judging by the look Quorra gave her, she was right.

"Is that possible?" Beck asked.

"Sam has everything from the Grid saved on a data chip," Quorra explained. "That's why Director Fury wanted to keep an eye on him. He's trying to reassure your friends that this version of the Grid won't be as dangerous."

 _Does she know the truth_? Mira looked down at the floor. Maybe Sam hadn't been around when that news was leaked. Or he had completely forgotten about it. Either way, she had a feeling Quorra wouldn't be too pleased if she knew what had really happened.

"So how exactly did you meet the Creator?" Mira asked when an awkward silence filled the room.

Quorra frowned before telling them her story. "After you left, I decided to go and see if there were any ISOs left after the Purge," she began. "I found Ada, and we started traveling the cities together. When we reached Bismuth, Ada vanished… it wasn't until I ran that I learned she was derezzed."

Shivers ran down Mira's arms. Clu had killed so many programs during the Purge. He didn't care whether or not they were on his side. All that mattered to him was perfection. That was one of Flynn's biggest downfalls. He always thought that creating the perfect system was the only path to take. But meeting the ISOs and losing Sam made him realize otherwise.

"Wait, did you by chance meet someone named Paige?"

Mira looked at Beck in surprise when he mentioned the old commander's name. Quorra's eyes widened with recognition.

"Yes, we did meet her," she replied. "Before the hospital she worked at was destroyed."

Mira smiled as she remembered helping Paige from derezzing. The commander had finally turned to the right side, when she learned that Tesler had been lying to her this entire time. She wondered how Paige was doing before Sam moved all of the files.

"I'm glad you're alright," she murmured after looking back up at Quorra.

The ISO somehow seemed taller in the Real World than on the Grid. But maybe that was because it had been so long since she last saw Quorra.

"Me too."

The door quickly swung open, Sam stepping inside with a frown written across his face, followed by Clint and Natasha.

"Time to go." Mira raised an eyebrow when she caught Quorra's surprised look. "We've got a bit of a problem at HQ," Clint added after noticing Mira's confused look.

 _And by a bit_ , _you mean a big problem_ , Mira thought with a roll of her eyes. Natasha looked back at Sam, who placed what Mira guessed was the data chip on his desk.

"Keep an eye on that chip," Natasha warned him. "Others might try using it for their own purpose."

Quorra stiffened at the mention of 'purpose'. Sam gave her a reassuring look before nodding at the idea.

Mira quickly followed them out of the room, eager to get away now that she knew Quorra was safe and sound. Hopefully Sam would keep her safe, like the Creator had for so many cycles on the Grid. Mira had a feeling that Quorra was somehow tied in to the whole issues with Cyrus.

"Let me guess, Cyrus escaped?"

Natasha stopped dead when Mira finally spoke up. She almost wished that were the case. But something told her that this was more serious than Cyrus escaping.

"Something like that," Clint replied after exchanging looks with Natasha.

She really hoped her original thoughts were the case. Otherwise they were getting themselves into something they had not trained for.

…

It was close to midnight by the time they reached the Hellicarrier. Mira was getting sick of this floating headquarters. She never thought that she'd actually miss living in Stark Tower. But at this point, she knew better than to say that out loud.

The few agents that were awake scrambled to their posts as Director Fury called for a team debriefing. Whatever that meant. As far as Mira was concerned, this was just another excuse to discuss what was happening with Cyrus.

"Cyrus is still in his prison, in case you're wondering," Director Fury said before Mira or Beck could ask. "But we've got a bigger problem on our hands, one that involves the Grid."

Mira glanced at the screen he'd pulled up. Tony, Bruce and Steve had joined them shortly before the meeting began. Mira folded her arms and leaned against the back of her seat, sitting beside Natasha while Beck sat beside Clint.

"Do you recognize this face?" He zoomed in on an image he'd pulled out.

The suit wasn't there, but the face, short-cut hair was. Mira's teeth ground together as she glared at the program.

"Pavel."

Beck looked like he was ready to slam a fist into the screen. That good-for-nothing program couldn't have found his way to the Real World. There was no possible way he could have found a Portal. But Mira knew better than to believe that. Pavel was the kind of program who would go out of his way to find a working Portal and destroy anyone who stood in his way. She could already imagine the panic that his presence would stir when he reached the nearest city. If he was there, it wouldn't end well for anyone involved.

"I had a feeling you would know him," Director Fury sighed. "He's been causing problems throughout the city. Not as dangerous as Cyrus, but close to him. He's already managed to kill a few people that were in his way."

Mira threw her hands in the air after realizing that Pavel really was as deranged as Cyrus. Maybe even worse.

"Great, now we have this nutcase to worry about," she muttered crossly.

"What did he do on the Grid?" Natasha asked.

Her voice was calm, but Mira didn't miss the worry in her eyes. First Cyrus and now Pavel. How many other programs had gotten through those Portals? The guilt that threatened to overwhelm Mira began eating away at her. This had been their fault. If they had been more careful and faster about closing the Portals, none of this would have happened. She knew that they needed to stop Pavel before he reached the city, and before he killed innocent Users.

"Pavel was General Tesler's commander," Beck explained. "Enjoys fighting and killing."

He narrowed his eyes at the term.

 _He's definitely gotten the User vocab down_ , Mira thought, wondering if they would stick around long enough for the meaning behind that vocabulary to sink in. Beck had learned quickly since reaching the Real World. So far he hadn't picked up on Tony's colorful language, but she had a feeling it was only a matter of time before he did.

"So basically he's a sadistic killer," Steve replied. "Why start attacking now? What are his motives?"

Silence followed his question. Mira frowned as she thought of what to say. Pavel had likely been given commands to kill anyone that looked familiar. If he was still loyal to Clu, then it was possible he was looking for the Renegade and the Rogue. Which meant he wasn't going to let anything stand in his way until he got what he wanted.

"When something like this happens, we need to make a stand and fight back," Director Fury told them. "If Pavel is from the Grid, then that means others have probably followed him." He glanced at Mira and Beck. "You two fought him before, I assume," he added to them.

"Yeah… but that was before he had the weapon upgrade," Beck replied.

Mira wished she could punch him in the shoulders for saying that. The weapon upgrade wasn't meant to be announced to the User world. If a User with the need for power got their hands on it, there was no telling what they could do.

"Weapon upgrade?" Clint raised an eyebrow.

Mira shot Beck a glare when he realized what he'd just said.

"It's nothing… just a simple tool that programs use," she quickly explained, hoping they would buy it.

"It sounds like it's more than nothing," Tony said with a smirk. "Sounds like it could actually have a tie with the Super Soldier Project."

He glanced at Steve, whose eyes widened as he thought of what that meant.

"Either way, Pavel is a problem the Avengers need to take care of," Director Fury sighed after pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We're going with you," Mira announced when an icy silence filled the room. "Pavel's here because we went through that Portal. If anyone can stop him, it's the Renegade and the Rogue," she added before Clint or Natasha could argue.

Beck didn't even bother saying anything against that plan. Obviously, he wanted to take down Pavel almost as much as she did. This was more than just a personal issue. Pavel had caused so much grief over the last few xilacycles for everyone. The sadistic program deserved to pay for everything he had done.

"Fine, but you'll need to suit up," Steve replied just as Natasha was about to say something.

She shot him an icy glare that was returned with a shrug and a sheepish grin.

Tony suddenly stood up, ignoring the sudden tension that filled the room.

"Speaking of suits, there's something I'd like you two to take a look at," he said after brushing off his gray t-shirt.

Relief swept over Mira's shoulders as she followed him to the lab. Director Fury had given Tony and Bruce permission to work on whatever project they had been working on at the tower. From what it sounded like, they were finished.

The lab inside wasn't nearly as large as Tony's lab. But it did have an impressive amount of equipment inside. She stiffened upon seeing a pair of scientists arguing over some kind of new material that was being worked on in the lab. It seemed as if SHIELD was the kind of organization that would provide whatever new technology was designed. The sleek, new design of technology was something that would always fascinate her.

"Thanks to that little tool of yours, we were able to finish that project Bruce and I were working on," Tony explained as he reached a table with objects scattered across it. "I thought you two might appreciate these."

He grabbed the first object he noticed and tossed it over.

Mira caught it and stared at the device in surprise. It was a helmet, like the ones programs used on the Grid. Only it was sleeker and lighter.

"Go ahead and try it on." Mira bit the bottom of her lip as she tried it on for the first time. Perfect fit. She wondered when Tony or Bruce had guessed her size. "There should be a button on the right, by your ear," Tony added after a few seconds had passed.

She jumped after pressing the button. The helmet concealed her face, but she could see clearly through the screen. What looked like a program's suit wrapped around her body, covering her arms and legs. She almost grinned when she noticed the 'R' symbol from her previous suit.

"How did you know?"

Even the circuit designs were accurate. True, he had seen their appearance on the Grid, but that had all happened so quickly she would have thought he would forget.

"Beck was the one that had the design ideas," Tony replied with a wide grin.

She finally turned to see that Beck's suit was almost exactly like his old one. Only the 'T' symbol on his chest was still there. She had to admit that the suit looked good on him. But of course, she wasn't willing to say that out loud.

"Thank you. You didn't have to make these," Mira sighed after her helmet receded.

Just like the Grid's suits. She wondered how Tony managed to get every detail right.

"Oh, that's not even the best part," Tony added. "We've got these. Thought you might make use out of them."

Mira's eyes widened when he grabbed what looked like identity disks. They weren't exact copies, but they were close enough to the real thing.

 _Amazingly detailed_ , she thought when they even whirred to life.

"Those disks are programmed to return to their owner's hands," Bruce explained after stepping inside. "You shouldn't have any trouble using them."

"Has anyone ever said that you guys are amazing?"

These tools really were just like being on the Grid. Now she and Beck might actually stand a chance against Pavel. If he didn't have the weapon upgrade, that was. She knew they were all in for a nasty fight if the asshole had the weapon upgrade. For now, they had to hope he wouldn't bring it with him.

"Better not inflate his ego; it's big enough as it is," Bruce muttered under his breath.

Tony's expression was almost priceless while he ignored the doctor's jab. Getting high praise from her was like a gift in itself. Of course, adding to the ego that Tony already had probably wasn't going to help matters.

"Now we're ready to take on Pavel," Beck said after his helmet receded.

Mira couldn't help but nod in agreement. Pavel was going to be in for a nasty surprise.

* * *

 **AN: And we're slowly winding down to the last couple of chapters to this story. Goodbye Ordinary might take longer to post, because I plan on doing a total rewrite of it, which means I'll be starting from scratch. Thanks again Retrokill for reviewing, I always appreciate any kind of feedback :)**

 **Retrokill - Indeed it does ;)**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

SHIELD was already working fast to evacuate the city that was normally swarming with Users. Mira hadn't missed the fact that most of the city was blocked with SHIELD vehicles and operatives trying to calm down the panicking citizens. She wondered if this was anything like the battle in New York. They couldn't have been prepared for that battle, from what she'd gathered, they came out of nowhere and attacked without mercy.

 _This will be no different_ , she reminded herself.

Pavel was likely here because Clu had sent him after Flynn defeated him. Though, he would have likely gone through a Portal _before_ Flynn was killed, and before Mira and Beck had a chance to close them. The fact that Pavel had been biding his time made him that much more cynical. From what she had gathered, Pavel brought with him a small army of twenty or more soldiers. Which told her this wasn't going to be an easy fight, if they had arrived prepared.

"Remember, we don't want any casualties," Steve said through the coms that Natasha had given both Mira and Beck. She still couldn't get used to hearing their voices when they weren't next to her. The team had split up upon arriving in the city, with Steve taking Bruce and Tony. Natasha, Clint and Beck were with Mira trying to scope out their surroundings, "If Pavel decides to attack any citizens, rescue them before going after him."

"He isn't going to make that easy," Beck muttered under his breath, "Knowing Pavel, he'll come looking for us."

"I'm honestly surprised he hasn't already," she put in with a shrug. Beck threw her a knowing look, but, Clint had also caught the look and scowled in annoyance. Since he and Natasha were dressed in full-gear, they looked that much more intimidating. Not for the first time, Mira found it hard to believe that these people were her biological parents, "Look, Pavel's the kind of program who will go out of his way to make everyone miserable. He feeds off of it, almost like a virus."

"So, he's basically your typical run-of-the-mill asshole villain," Clint finished for her, and Mira only rolled her eyes at that. Well, he wasn't lying. "Alright, if what you say about him is true, then the two of you better know what you're getting yourselves into."

Not for the first time, Mira found herself glancing at Beck as they exchanged looks. If it came down to it, she would personally kick Pavel's sorry ass for thinking he had any right in invading the Real World. He was in for one nasty surprise. Just as she was ready to say something, Clint suddenly pulled an arrow from his quiver and fired it at a moving object. The arrow was easily knocked out of the way before it exploded in the air. Mira narrowed her eyes when she recognized the slim shape of Pavel standing in the center of the street, grinning maliciously.

"Isn't this a rather unpleasant surprise?" the former commander sneered as he looked between all four of them, "I was rather hoping I would see the Renegade and the Rogue again. You two are more than just annoying pests, after all."

 _Someone hasn't changed a damn bit_ , she thought, reaching for her light sword before activating it. If there was one thing she hated about Pavel, it was his attitude. He was always looking for a way to claw himself to the top. She knew he kissed up to Tesler before he was taken down, along with Clu and any other commanding officer. He would do whatever it took to gain the power that he desired, even if that cup would never fully satisfy him.

"How the hell did you end up in the Real World?" she demanded, ignoring the warning looks Natasha and Clint were giving her.

They'd already taken their positions behind cars that were parked half-haphazardly on the street. Users had abandoned them in their attempt to flee the city before Pavel could inflict more damage. Mira was suddenly thankful that the city had been evacuated before Pavel arrived. The less casualties they had, the better off they were.

"Our grand leader, Clu, sent me here to ensure that the Real World was conquered in his honor," Pavel explained in a cool voice, suggesting he'd been planning this moment for pectrocycles, "When he realized that the Renegade and the Rogue had left, he knew that we would need to act quickly. He gave direct orders to bring his greatest prize back."

His cold eyes flew towards Mira, and, she felt her blood run cold at the realization that Clu wasn't about to give her up so easily.

Before Mira could spit something in response, soldiers began swarming around them. Instinct kicked in; Mira swung her light sword into the chest of a soldier that had gotten too close for comfort, while Beck fought off three soldiers at once. She hadn't missed the fact that Natasha and Clint were also surrounded, fighting back with equal speed and skill. This was not going to end well for anyone, if Pavel had his way with the Real World.

"Clu's gone, Pavel!" Beck shouted as he managed to take down the soldiers who were trying to pin him down. They may not have had weapons from the Grid, but, they were well-built and seemed to fight with equal prowess, "This isn't going to get you anywhere!"

"Lies!" Pavel fired back, finally reaching them among the throngs of soldiers, "You will fall before our leader, and I will restore the Grid back to its former glory!"

"What glory?" Mira snapped, eyes narrowing with rage as she threw off another soldier over her shoulder, "Watching innocent programs suffer under Clu's tyranny is anything but glorious."

"Oh, how I miss hearing their screams of pain," Pavel sneered, moving with inhuman speed. Mira merely glared at him when she realized he was using the weapon upgrade, "I had hoped you two would make this easier for me. It seems as if we have to do this the difficult way."

"Touch her, and it'll be more than just your head that suffers from the impact of an exploding arrow."

Both Mira and Pavel froze for a brief second at the sound of Clint's voice. Pavel's face twisted into the form of an ugly scowl, one that she had seen more often than she would like.

"How cute." The glee flashing in his eyes was enough to make her stomach twist with disgust, "You've found Users who actually _care_ about you."

That did it. Mira didn't give Pavel another chance to finish his taunts when she swung her fist into his cheek, using his distraction to her advantage. Hate for the program who had caused so much pain for others burned within her.

"He's my father, you asshole!" she shouted, punching him relentlessly before Pavel finally staggered to the ground.

She couldn't stop. She couldn't explain the rage that fueled the need to keep punching him until she saw pixels scattering the ground. It wasn't until feeling a hand squeeze her shoulder that she finally stopped.

"Mira… this isn't you." She felt her heart nearly skip a beat at the sound of Beck's voice. She was hardly aware of city surrounding her when she realized that both Clint and Natasha were watching on in disbelief. Mira finally stood up after realizing that she could have killed him. Pavel's eyes were wide with horror as he started crawling away, using their distraction as a chance to flee before things could get any worse, "Are you okay?" Beck asked, concern darkening his gaze as he studied her carefully.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, suddenly wishing a hole would open and swallow her, "I don't know… I don't know what overcame me."

"You've got a lot of pent up rage," Natasha spoke up after reaching them. By now, the soldiers had begun to disperse in small groups, and it was becoming painfully obvious that they were falling back, "You just need to learn how to channel that anger."

Not for the first time, Mira found herself staring at the woman who was supposed to be her mother. Clint had remained oddly quiet after that. She'd finally acknowledged that he was her father, and, truthfully, she wasn't sure what to say after all of that.

"Hey, guys, instead of hugging it out like the weird family you are, you might wanna listen to this," Tony's voice sounded through the com, causing all four of them to roll their eyes almost automatically, "From what my scanners were able to pick up, we've got some major problems with the energy readings."

"Considering the circumstances, I'm hardly surprised," Clint muttered under his breath.

He crossed his arms when he realized that the soldiers were no longer attacking them. Something was definitely wrong, especially when Mira realized that she couldn't find Pavel anywhere.

"Remember when I said that you might have closed all of the Portals on the Grid?" Tony asked, flying nearby and blasting at any soldiers trying to escape the city's outskirts, "Turns out, I wasn't _completely_ truthful with that. Seems like these Portals are causing a rift within the city."

"English please," Clint muttered.

He shot an explosive arrow towards the remaining soldiers scattered throughout the streets. In a matter of seconds, they fell over, one by one.

"Pavel has the warship." Mira's eyes widened when she realized that Beck was right.

 _How in the Users did he get that thing here_? Mira wondered as she gazed up at the massive ship. It dwarfed the Hellicarrier. Glass shattered as it flew through the narrow streets towards the team. Shudders ran through her as she remembered how often she and Beck had almost gotten trapped inside.

"Now than, you can either give yourselves up, or I'll destroy this entire city!" Pavel's voice boomed over the intercom.

Mira frowned as she thought of what to do next. Pavel was serious. He enjoyed killing programs as much as Cyrus had. But there was one thing he didn't count on. This was exactly what this team was trained for.

"Hawkeye, think you can aim your arrows at those thrusters?" Tony was flying around the ship, trying to find any weak points it might have.

"Easily," Clint replied with the slightest of grins.

He grabbed an arrow and aimed it towards one of the two thrusters. Mira reached for her disk and activated it. The arrow flew towards one of the thrusters. Mira threw her disk after it landed. The explosion that followed shook the city.

"That should do it."

Mira flinched as the smoke cleared. She had a feeling that Natasha was far from right.

Her assumptions were right. Pavel stood among the debris, grinning as he held up a pair of weapons Mira guessed were made on the Grid.

"I won't be taken down that easily," he sneered. He fired the weapons. Mira cringed when she realized that the weapon was a combination of upgrades programs had created. From Tesler's arms, to Dyson's disk that held on to the end of a strap. "Now, I was told to bring you back to the Grid, and I'm going to die trying!"

Teeth grinding together, Mira jumped out of the way as an arm extension reached for the startled group. Captain America raised his shield to protect Clint and Natasha from the attack, while Beck staggered to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"Pavel, this is crazy!" Beck sliced the arm off with his disk. It landed on the ground in a pile of pixels, but the disk extension flew right towards him. "Since when has Clu ever cared about anyone but himself?"

Mira finally caught her breath, but Pavel was far from finished.

The former commander suddenly charged forward, throwing down the weapons and raising his own fists. He was after Beck. Mira bit the bottom of her lip and threw out her leg, hoping to trip Pavel before he could reach Beck. His eyes narrowed with rage as he leaped into the air.

"This is getting old, fast," Natasha muttered as she caught Pavel by the collar of his suit. She pulled his arms back just as he struggled to free himself from her firm grip. "Now, Clint!"

Mira flinched when he aimed an arrow at Pavel. A chilling silence filled the air as the arrow landed. Pavel finally let out a scream of pain as it sent jolts of electricity through him. Moments later and he slumped to the ground.

"What was that?" Beck asked after realizing what just happened.

"He won't be fighting again." Mira felt her blood run cold when Clint said that. "Not if we have any say in it."

"Damage Control's gonna have their hands full," Tony said after joining them. "We need to gather these soldiers and make sure there aren't any hiding," he added.

 _And make sure that Pavel wasn't hiding anymore weapons_ , Mira added silently. She knew all too well that Pavel wouldn't let them forget this. But at least now that he was dead, he wouldn't be causing any pain on the Grid once it was Sam and Quorra's project was finished.

Not for the first time, Mira found herself glancing self-consciously at Natasha and Clint as they regrouped with the rest of the team. Bruce had Hulked out during the battle, keeping whatever soldiers had remained from fleeing the scene. She wasn't sure where he was now, but she suspected he wouldn't be far.

"You called me your father."

Mira flinched when she realized that Clint was looking down at her, the smirk on his face enough for her to understand that meant more than he would ever let on.

"Well, it isn't as if I was lying," she shrugged, knowing that they still had a lot to discuss after this was over.

It wasn't until than that Clint finally wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug that Mira found herself stiffening in surprise. Even though they had spent time together getting to know each other, she still felt strange around him. Natasha wasn't much better, and, she had done her best to reach out to Mira after having admitted that she only gave her up for her own protection. This, however, felt right. It didn't take long for the stiffness to go away as she buried her face into his shoulder. She knew at that moment their lives would never be the same.

* * *

 **AN: Well, it may have taken me ages to finish this, but, I'm satisfied with the results of this chapter rewrite. I did a major overhaul, and, ended up making it longer than the original.**

 **Retrokill - It's okay. FF always seems to act weird, and, this whole email alert thing seems to happen every year, if I recall correctly /: I just wish they would get their act together. At any rate, it might take a while for any actual romance to happen between Mira and Beck, unfortunately...**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

"So…"

"So, what?"

Mira rose an eyebrow as she studied the expressions written across Clint and Natasha's faces. They had been at this staring match for what felt like pectrocycles. She wasn't even sure where they were getting at with this. It was Natasha who had finally taken the initiative to talk things through after the battle with Pavel was over. Now, no one was sure what to say during the awkward silence that followed. It was uncomfortable at best. Mira couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that followed as she felt Natasha's piercing gaze bore through her.

"Look, I don't know how to make this anymore awkward than it already is," she shook her head doubtfully, knowing that while they were in fact her biological parents that wouldn't make things any easier.

She had finally acknowledged that Clint was her father. Natasha was a whole different story, though. Mira wasn't even sure what to call the older woman. Of course, Natasha had tried reaching out to her on more than one occasion. It was more than just a matter of forgiveness, at this point. Mira realized with a start that it was also a matter of trust.

"You're planning on going back to the Grid, even after all of that?" Clint asked in disbelief.

"The Grid feels more like home now, than the Real World," she replied with a shrug.

She hardly noticed the look he was giving Natasha. In another world, she might have felt guilty for suggesting that notion. Things were different, now. After realizing that Natasha and Clint were her parents by birth, the emotions that she had kept buried for so long were finally beginning to overwhelm her.

She knew that things would never be the same, now. She had found her birth parents, and nothing was ever going to change that. Yet, that didn't stop Mira from wanting to go back and help Sam improve on the Grid. If anything could be done, than that was better than nothing.

"Alright," Clint sighed after realizing there was no point in arguing with her. As much as he hated to admit it, she was more independent than most kids her age. It bothered him to no end that someone who was his biological daughter would turn down the offer to spend more time with them, "This isn't gonna be easy, but I realize you make a valid point."

For once, Mira didn't know what to say when she realized he wasn't going to argue with her decision. She had already planned on going back to the Grid once it was finished. Because it was still in the early stages through development with Sam and Stark's help, she knew that they would need all the help they could get to restore order to the Grid.

"If you plan on going back, than you should at least have a place to stay here in the Real World," Natasha suddenly pointed out.

That caught Mira's attention. Stark had offered a place for her to stay. Though, she didn't feel so apprehensive about staying at Avenger's Tower. Not only did it meant that he would be keeping an eye on her every cycle, it also meant she would have little to no privacy if she decided to stop by.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked warily.

"Cap did say that he was planning on staying in Washington D.C. to work with SHIELD and the Strike team," Clint explained after catching the look Natasha was giving him, "It might be good for the two of you to keep in touch with each other, every now and then."

Mira chewed the bottom of her lip as she thought that through. It would make sense to have someone who was a conflict of interest keep an eye on her. She hadn't necessarily grown close to Steve after meeting him. He seemed to understand enough that she wasn't going to trust him, right away.

"You're not going to give me another choice, are you?"

She knew that look well enough, now to understand that whatever decision she made would affect her future.

"Well, it's better than being stuck in some SHIELD facility where they're hounding you constantly to join them," Clint replied, earning a sharp jab in the ribs from Natasha.

Once again, Mira found herself looking down at the floor while thinking of the numerous possibilities regarding that suggestion. If she stayed at an apartment across from Steve, it would give her enough freedom to choose when she could or couldn't show up. Steve had never tried intruding on her like the others. He stepped around her carefully, and had done so from day one.

 _Then again, he could have been doing that because I look so much like Natasha_ , she added silently.

That thought had always unnerved her. She never realized how much she looked like her mother. With the same red hair, muscular arms and a piercing gaze that would send anyone packing, she understood why so many people were intimidated by her.

"Alright," she sighed after realizing Clint and Natasha brought up a valid point, "If it means I can stay on the Grid, then, I'm willing to take that risk."

"Good," Clint uncrossed his arms as Natasha chose that moment to leave.

Things between them might never feel normal. Mira was beginning to realize that, now. She suspected Natasha still regretted telling her everything about her past. By the time Clint had left, Mira was already moving towards the closets to start packing.

She found it hard to believe that half a xilacycle went by. In User terms, that meant half a year had already flown by since they arrived in the Real World. Knowing that only left her wishing they had stayed on the Grid longer. Maybe things would have started looking up if she and Beck chose to stay behind, instead of closing the Portals.

She swallowed hard at the thought of Beck. Things between them hadn't necessarily gotten any better since the battle against Pavel. She couldn't shake off the feeling that whatever rift had formed between them would never be repaired. He'd been avoiding her since than, and, she couldn't understand why.

 _I was wrong to think anything could happen between us_ , she thought bitterly, squeezing her eyes shut at the thought. He was, after all, a program. With her being a User, she didn't know how that would have panned out. And while her feelings for Beck had never gone away, she knew that they were never meant to be.

It was probably better, that way. She realized that all her feelings ever did was make her worse in combat. She'd taken her frustration and fury out on Pavel when he insulted them. If things had gotten any worse, she was positive she would have killed him without any remorse. That was what had scared her the most.

Mira couldn't shake off the feeling that whatever Clu did to her not only affected her physically, but, mentally as well. Stark had run enough tests on her memories and whatever data he could find to understand what was going on. But, he'd been so vague on the issue that she wasn't sure what to believe.

It wasn't until hearing a knock on the door that Mira lifted an eyebrow in surprise. She had been getting ready to start packing what little clothing she had. Pepper Potts was the one who insisted that they had a normal day and go shopping for a change. Mira had hated every microcycle of it. All she wanted was something simple that would hide the scars that were visible while she was out in public. Luckily, Natasha was the one who thought that one through. She'd gone through several supplies of natural skin care products, making sure that the scars were hidden enough from prying eyes.

When Mira reached the door, she was even more surprised to find a familiar figure standing in front of it. She half-expected it to be Steve checking in on her, or, Bruce. What she wasn't expecting was to find Beck, of all people, staring at the door sheepishly.

"I uh, I wasn't sure if you were going to answer," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

A few nanoseconds of awkward silence followed as they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Rinzler had finally emerged from his hiding place, watching both through unblinking eyes. Once again, the feeling of unease returned as Mira wondered what they would say after avoiding each other for so long.

"Look, I'm uh… I'm sorry, for avoiding you," Beck sighed when she finally let him in. Mira couldn't help but flinch at that. She had been suspecting there was more going on than just avoiding her. Things hadn't been the same since she woke up on the Hellicarrier, "I've been trying to figure out a good way to get this off my chest without making it anymore awkward than it seems."

"So, you thought that avoiding me would help?" she asked, not meaning for it to come out as accusing as it sounded.

"No," he shook his head, finally sinking onto the bed as he looked at anything but her.

"Beck, I don't know what to say," she muttered, finding it hard to believe this was the same program who had been so confident just a mylacycle ago, "I thought things would finally go back to normal once Cyrus was taken in, but…"

She couldn't bring herself to finish that. Her heart felt so twisted and confused as she stared down at the floor guiltily. She just wished there was an easier way to get around her feelings. If she had known that it would be this difficult, she never would have wanted anything to do with them in the first place.

"I know," Beck sighed once more, looking at her with an expression that was impossible to read, "When we were on the Hellicarrier, I was so worried that I might lose you all over again."

That was enough to take Mira by surprise. She had already been through more than enough near-death experiences that this had become almost second-nature to her. She supposed for most Users, it wasn't something that occurred to them on a daily basis. Then again, she had to remind herself that she wasn't like most Users.

"I'm sorry, for putting you through that," she murmured, biting the bottom of her lip doubtfully.

"Mira, don't you dare apologize for something you had no control over." Once again, Mira found herself stiffening in surprise when Beck said that. There was so much tension between them. She could already feel it building as Rinzler ducked for cover, not wanting any part of wherever this was headed. "I meant what I said back on the Hellicarrier."

Confusion swept through her for a moment. She remembered bits and pieces of what had been said on the Hellicarrier. She may have just been recovering from the virus that infected her, but, Mira had heard his voice loud and clear.

Before she could say anything else, Beck took her by surprise when he stood up and closed the distance between them. Her body reacted upon sheer instinct as she stiffened upon feeling his hands around her shoulders. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when his lips met hers. In one fleeting moment, she found herself melting into his warm embrace. It felt as if an electrical shockwave swept through her in that sweeping moment.

"I… That was…" Mira was at a loss for words as she searched Beck's eyes for anything that might give him away. It was the last thing she expected out of him. Her heart felt lighter than ever as she leaned into his chest, suddenly wishing this moment could last a little longer. "What was that for?" she finally managed to ask without stumbling over words.

Even Beck himself looked a little stunned with the way he'd reacted. Finding themselves tangled in a warm embrace wasn't what either of them had expected.

"I don't know," he admitted, suddenly feeling sheepish and worried that he'd crossed the line. She was, after all, a User, and he was nothing more than a program. Not to mention, both of her parents were trained killers who could just as easily lock him up without a moment's hesitation. "Mira, I'm—"

"Don't apologize, Beck," she cut him off, aware that things could have ended much worse, "Please, don't apologize. I'm not angry, just… confused. Did you really mean what you said on the Hellicarrier?"

"I did," he replied without hesitation. "Mira, I love you. I've just been… too afraid to admit it out loud."

Mira offered a ghost of a smile when she realized what he meant by that. It wasn't just a suggestion. It was the truth. And, she could no longer deny the feelings that she had been suppressing for what felt like mylacycles.

"Beck, I love you, too," she reassured him.

She just didn't know how to express her feelings. Despite everything that had happened, Mira had been so terrified of admitting the truth. Now, neither of them had anything to hide.

"So, what now?" was all Beck could think of asking when they managed to untangle themselves.

Mira couldn't help but glance at him self-consciously as they sat down next to each other on the bed.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "I've never done anything like this."

Beck looked at her warily, not sure if she was referring to their kiss, or, the future that now lay ahead of them.

"Sam Flynn mentioned that he was going to repair the Grid," he began, finding it hard to believe that such a thing was possible, "I know that it seems impossible, but maybe we could follow in Tron's footsteps."

Mira almost laughed at that. She doubted that she could follow in Tron's footsteps. He was the kind of program who made it almost impossible to do so. Though, Beck had come pretty close to becoming the next Tron through his training as the Renegade.

"Beck, I was talking about us," she pointed out, "I mean, I've never been in any relationship. It's…"

"Terrifying?" Beck guessed for her, knowing that this would be anything but easy to overcome.

"Yeah," she nodded in agreement, "I mean, are Users and programs even compatible?"

"I don't know," Beck shook his head, frowning at the thought. He hadn't really thought through whether programs or Users could be together. Quorra was lucky in that aspect, because she was an ISO. He was still just a program, and a mechanic to boot. He really didn't have much more to offer her, "About the only thing I do know, is that we've got a lot of work to do."

That was enough for Mira to laugh in agreement. She understood full-well that they were putting themselves through a lot of stress these next few mylacycles. But, the work would be worth it, if they could restore the Grid back to what it was like before Clu took over.

"Then, it's about time we got our butts into gear and did something," she replied, earning a look of amusement from Beck.

Whatever they did, at least she knew that it would be together. They had always been a team, and, Mira wouldn't want it any other way. Not when they had so much to look forward to in the future.

* * *

 **AN: I know I normally update Tuesdays and Thursdays, but, my schedule has been so hectic lately, that I figure it doesn't matter, at this point. So, a huge thanks to Retrokill for reviewing, and giving me motivation to keep doing this :) I appreciate any feedback from readers who are enjoying this, so far.**

 **Retrokill - Hehe, I'm glad that you liked it. I thought it would be fun to add some family interaction; I never really got around to doing that in the original. And, yeah; I've never used Tumblr, but I get what you mean by that. Wish they'd fix whatever issues they have, and get their acts together /:**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

The following cycle had been a mad rush of everyone getting ready to leave for ENCOM Tower. Stark had been working with Flynn closely after agreeing that a safer version of the Portal was a must. Especially with so many more Users stepping through to keep an eye on it.

Mira had already finished packing everything she needed, which wasn't much to begin with. The only difference of that night was that she had finally slept on the bed. It was the first time she had done so without passing out and waking up on a bed when someone brought her there. Though, things hadn't gotten much better when Beck was sleeping with her. The whole situation had been awkward, at first. Not just because neither of them were sure of what to say, but, because they knew what sort of accusations would be made.

She knew that this wouldn't sit well with Natasha and Clint. Which was why they had kept things quiet. It was inevitable that they would find out, being the spies that they were. Mira just hoped that this didn't backfire on her. They were trusting her enough to know that she could have her own apartment. She didn't want them to think she was incapable of taking care of herself, especially with another program involved.

With that thought in mind, they quietly made their way towards the lobby where everyone was waiting. Natasha's arms were crossed while Clint just looked downright annoyed. Only Steve bore a look of confusion when he sensed that not everything was alright.

Luckily, she was saved from having to answer when the quinjet was prepared to take off. Mira couldn't shake off the feeling of unease as she followed the others into the belly of the quinjet where they could wait until it reached its destination.

The rest of the flight to ENCOM tower had been awkwardly quiet. Mira knew that she and Beck had a lot of explaining to do. Knowing Natasha and Clint from their professions, she had no doubt they already knew what had happened the other night. Though, the truth was, Mira didn't know how to explain the feelings she had for Beck.

She cared about him. More than anyone she'd ever worked with. She had begun to see him as more than just a partner when they were working together. Things had changed, though, as she spent more time away from Argon and worked in Tron City. She knew it was partially her own fault for leaving them. In the end, she wound up returning to Argon City even after declaring to herself that she would never go back.

 _Guess I'm nothing more than a hypocrite_ , she thought bitterly squeezing her eyes shut as the quinjet landed on the top of ENCOM Tower. To her surprise, Alan Bradley was already waiting for them outside. Dressed in a fancy work suit, Bradley had his hands in his pockets as they climbed out of the quinjet, eyeing them thoughtfully.

"Flynn and Stark managed to get the device working properly, though, this is only a test run to make sure that everything's in order," Bradley explained when they reached him. "Quorra's been more than ready to see what state the Grid is in since they left."

"Did he ever mention what happened to Tron?" Beck asked, the wariness in his voice catching Bradley by surprise.

From what Mira had gathered, Bradley was the one who created Tron. Kevin Flynn had asked Bradley if he could move Tron over to his new system, because they had worked together before. What surprised her more than anything was that Bradley had never questioned Flynn's stability, or the reasons behind moving Tron over to his system.

"Last they saw of him, he ended up crashing into the Sea of Simulation after deflecting," Bradley replied, ignoring the looks Natasha and Clint were giving him. They didn't know much about the Grid, or how things worked on the Grid. Mira suspected this would be an entirely new learning curve for both of them, "There's no telling what you'll find when you get there."

"He would want us to continue protecting innocent programs," Mira pointed out.

She swallowed hard at the thought of realizing that Tron might have been derezzed in that crash. Surviving from a height like that, and a crash like that, was nearly impossible. Then again, Tron had dealt with the impossible before.

Bradley gave a slight nod of approval, hardly surprised with her response. He led the way down the stairs and towards Flynn's office. He, Tony and Bruce had been working on this project for the last couple of mylacycles, now. Mira wondered what would happen once they had returned to the Grid. The question kept running through her mind as she wondered whether programs would remember her or Beck. Or, if they would even trust them after leaving the Grid for so long.

She shook her head at the thought, dreading the moment when she would have to face that part of her past. It still felt creepy beyond reason that Tony had scanned through her memories. Yet, Mira understood why he did it. Between curiosity and wanting to find out just what Clu had done to her, it was necessary to see the damage that he'd caused over the xilacycles.

"Welcome back," Quorra offered a smile when she spotted both Mira and Beck standing behind Natasha and Clint. She had been sitting on Flynn's desk before noticing their arrival. Bradley didn't even need to knock on the door, at this point. "Sam's been eager to get this test-run started."

"We managed to work out the rest of the kinks thanks to Stark and Banner's help," Flynn put in, eyeing both Mira and Beck curiously. They never had much of a chance to talk when Pavel threatened the city. Seeing him now, Mira could see that he looked much like Kevin Flynn in his younger years. "Since this is just gonna be a test-run, I figured I would set the coordinates outside of Argon City; a place you're both familiar with."

Mira exchanged a look with Beck, noticing how anxious he looked. The last time they had been in Argon City was when his identity as the Renegade had been revealed. She had wondered how programs would receive him if the Grid was ever restored.

"And, what happens if this thing decides to malfunction on us?" Clint crossed his arms, eyeing the device Flynn held cautiously.

"Well, we haven't exactly figured that one out, yet," he admitted, rubbing the back of his hair sheepishly, "But, we've managed to run a few tests by sending apples and other fruits to see if the results were a success, and so far, we've seen nothing but positive results."

"I say it's worth the risk," Mira stated, ignoring the scowl of disapproval written across Clint's face.

Father or not, she wanted to see the Grid, again. She wanted to go _home_. That was what the Grid felt like, now. Beck must have been thinking the same thing, seeing the look of anxiety written across his face.

"Glad someone feels that way," Flynn only smirked at the thought before setting the device down.

"We're going through this, together," Natasha put in before anyone could say anything, "SHIELD, or not, we need to find out whether this is a threat," she added before Mira could argue with her.

 _More like they want to make sure I don't do anything crazy_ , she thought, nearly rolling her eyes when she spotted Clint nodding in agreement.

Once Flynn had finished explaining the basic mechanics of the device, he quickly activated with a few simple commands from his computer. Mira and Beck had already braced themselves for whatever would happen, next.

It had been xilacycles since Mira was sent to the Grid through the device that Kevin Flynn had used. She didn't quite know what to make of the pins and needles feelings that went through her when it activated. A red light appeared in front of them, causing her body to stiffen in surprise before the world whited out for a brief nanocycle. One nanocycle later, and they found themselves in a familiar setting. She blinked a few times to get her bearings.

The cold winds sweeping through the Outlands sent a shiver through her. Mira's eyes widened in surprise when she spotted Beck standing not far from her. His suit was back, with the white and blue circuits they were familiar with. As she studied her own appearance, Mira noticed that her suit was back, as well, along with her disk. It was as if nothing had changed. The only difference was the fact that Natasha and Clint were with them, now.

"That was… weird," Clint remarked, rubbing the back of his head when he realized where they were. "Does it always feel tingly when that thing's activated?"

"It's probably just a side-effect from the device," Natasha replied, eyeing her surroundings cautiously. "Where are we?"

"The Outlands," Beck told her, glancing around until spotting the distant glow of what looked like Argon City. "Home," he whispered, the longing in his voice enough for Mira's heart to wrench with pity.

She hated knowing that they had left everyone behind. Kevin Flynn had told her that it would have never worked out, for them, if they had stayed. Their destiny was to deactivate the Portals that were spreading across the Grid. Yet, Mira had always wondered if that was just her destiny. Beck had always had a life, here. He never intended to leave the Grid.

"I'm not sure what we should do, first," she murmured thoughtfully as they regrouped.

Beck looked at her warily, knowing they had limited time, here. Flynn had set up the device to send them back after thirty microcycles went by. She knew that they should have stopped by Argon City to see what state everyone was in. Yet, a small part of her was worried that they wouldn't receive a warm welcoming. Especially after the state Clu had left the Grid in.

"I think we should stop by the Safe house," Beck suggested, earning a look of surprise from Mira, "Maybe Tron could give us an idea as to what we should look for, even if he isn't around."

That was enough for Mira to nod in agreement. She realized it had to be a good start. Tron would have wanted them to move on and help these programs get their lives back together. As the protector of the Grid, his job had always been to keep everything in order. Even if it meant pushing himself to the point of exhaustion.

"Exactly how are we going to get there?" Clint asked skeptically.

"Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?" Mira countered as she pulled out the baton she'd kept with her.

Tony had given them back their light cycle batons after tweaking around with them, modifying them so that they could function properly in the Real World. Though she could see that Clint was going to continue arguing over their choice in rides if they gave him the chance.

Riding arrangements made the situation that much more awkward. In the end, it was decided that Natasha would ride with Mira, while Beck and Clint would share a light cycle. Neither were particularly happy with that decision. But, it was necessary for them to get around.

With that settled, both Mira and Beck made their way towards the mountains where the safe house was located. Natasha and Clint were trying to take everything in at once. Weather across the Outlands could change in an instant – one nanocycle, it could be perfectly calm, and the next, a storm could whip up out of nowhere. This cycle was no different as rain pelted them once they reached the foot of the mountains.

Mira and Beck had the benefits of their helmets, but Natasha and Clint didn't have any protection from the elements. Both were soaked through by the time they found the secret entrance to Tron's former safe house.

"I take it you've done this kind of thing before?" Clint asked in an irritated tone.

He regarded the fact that both Mira and Beck were perfectly comfortable with nearly colliding with the mountain wall. He and Natasha had braced themselves for an impact that never came.

"Tron used it as a way to keep Clu and his followers from finding him," Beck explained, "He rigged the place so that only those he trusted could find it, and get in."

"Left me with a few bruises during our first encounter," Mira muttered under her breath once they reached the garage and climbed off their light cycles.

Beck threw her a sympathetic look, knowing that had been his fault for not warning her.

It felt strange, to be back here. A shiver of unease swept through Mira when they wandered further into the garage. It looked as if everything was intact. Tron had left so suddenly that he didn't have a chance to clean the place up before he was repurposed.

"Have to admit, it was clever of him to use that wall as a security measure," Natasha remarked, glancing around as if she was expecting an enemy to leap out of the shadows.

"He was a security program. Makes sense that he would take such measures to keep himself safe," Clint retorted.

Neither Mira nor Beck were able to say anything when they reached the upper level. This was where they had spent much of their time training before she left. It really did feel strange, to be back here. What bothered her more than anything, was that something didn't feel right. It felt as if they weren't alone, like someone was watching them.

 _Am I the only one who feels that way_? she wondered, glancing at Natasha and Clint warily. She noticed that they too were over-cautious. Though, that could have been part of their SHIELD training. She was ready to say something out loud when they all heard a strange whirring sound, one that reminded her all-too-quickly of a disk activating.

"Someone's here," Beck whispered, stepping closer to Mira as he noticed her tense up.

Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw the stranger in question. She recognized the 'T' symbol on his chest. Something was off, though. Her heart nearly wrenched with pity when she noticed that he looked as if he'd seen better days. Leaning heavily against a nearby wall, the noise hadn't been from an activated disk. Instead, his breathing was heavy and raspy. His helmet covered his face, protecting himself from anyone who might be trying to figure out who he was. Mira wasn't fooled by his appearance, though.

She took a step closer, and the program stiffened from her sudden movement. Whatever Clu put him through, Mira couldn't imagine. He'd already suffered at the hands of Dyson and Cyrus. To see that he had suffered from repurposing and the effects of shaking it off, only made her feel that much guiltier. Neither Natasha nor Clint moved to stop her, though, she hadn't missed how tense they were.

The program had tried swatting her hand away when she reached towards him. It was painfully obvious that he was severely damaged. How he survived at all, Mira would never know. Bradley had mentioned that the last they saw of Tron, he crashed into the Sea of Simulation after deflecting from Clu. This only confirmed his theory.

"Easy," she whispered, keeping the tone of her voice soothing as she reached for his disk, "I'm here to help."

The program looked as if he was debating whether she was a threat, or not. A few nanocycles of tense silence followed before he finally allowed her to take his disk. The silence that followed was almost deafening as Mira worked to fix the damaged code.

"How are you able to do that?" Clint asked, sounding more than impressed when he noticed how quick she was.

"When I was on my own for a few hilocycles, I learned how to modify code," she explained, earning looks of surprise from both Natasha and Clint, "It took more than a few mylacycles, but, it was worth it to help all of those programs."

"Even if they turned their backs on you," Beck put in, his voice so quiet that she wasn't sure if Natasha and Clint had heard.

She had realized a long time ago that it was never about her own life. The programs on the Grid never had it easy when Clu took over. If anyone was going to fight back and knock him down a peg or two, she could care less whether programs hated her or not.

A few more microcycles passed before Mira was finally finished repairing the damaged code to his disk. The program standing in front of her lurched forward, as if he couldn't process the fact that someone had helped him.

"Who is he?" Natasha asked, this time.

Mira couldn't hide the guilty smile that followed, knowing that they would find out, sooner or later, "Tron."

* * *

 **AN: So, when I originally had this written out, there were twenty-seven chapters. I've shortened things up significantly by taking out needless chapters and adding longer ones. It may end up being the second-shortest in the series, but, I feel as if the next chapter being the grand-finale will justify why I've ended it off the way I did... At least, that's my hope. Thanks again Retrokill for your continued support! I'll always appreciate it :)**

 **Retrokill - Yeah, it was a bit bittersweet. Though, Natasha and Clint will be seeing her again, just not as often as they'd like.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty**

"That was Tron?" Clint asked in disbelief when the device was activated again.

That same, tingly sensation came rushing back as they were sent back to the office where it had been activated. Both Flynn and Quorra had been keeping an eye on them through the computer that could track their movement. When they had seen where the four of them were headed, Mira could see the shock written across their faces.

"He was repurposed before we escaped into the Real World," she explained, knowing an explanation was the least she could give under the circumstances.

"What do you mean by 'escaped'" Clint looked between Mira and Beck as they exchanged nervous looks.

The shock of finding out that Tron had been repurposed at all still left Mira reeling. She had always seen him as the program who was incapable of being under anyone's control. Though, there was a time when she had thought the Rinzler before Tron was him in disguise. Now, she understood why Clu had used that disguise. He'd planned on instilling fear into the minds of programs by using Tron's image, and the plan had eventually begun to work. The worst part was knowing that Tron eventually did fall victim to Clu's repurposing.

"Clu held a big meeting in Argon City just before that," Beck spoke up this time, "Tron was there, with him, when they revealed my identity as the Renegade."

She hadn't missed the bitterness in his voice. Natasha caught it too, because she lifted an eyebrow when she eyed Beck warily. There was no escaping the fact that Clu had known who they were. He had been looking for _her_ in particular, but, finding the Renegade would only seal the fate of the Grid.

"How long would it take for this thing to start working, again?" she asked, anxious to see if she had done the right thing.

"A few hours, give or take," Flynn shrugged, not looking the least bit surprised with the urgency in her tone, "It's still in the prototype process."

A few pectrocycles… Mira didn't know if she could wait that long. She couldn't take her mind off of the fact that Tron was alive. Neither she nor Beck had been expecting him to live after Quorra explained how she and Flynn returned to the Real World. The odds of him surviving that kind of crash or explosion were slim to none, and yet, Tron had surpassed all expectations.

Her heart raced for a whole different reason as it became a waiting game. Flynn had offered for them to stay and wait it out. It left them in uncomfortable silence as Mira sat beside Beck, watching him curiously.

After having faced the fact that his identity as the Renegade had been revealed, she wondered what he would do once things went back to normal. Though, if she were being honest with herself, their lives had never been normal. She doubted they even knew how to live a normal life.

The silence had become almost deafening when Quorra finally decided to break it by joining them. She hadn't seen heads or tails of Natasha and Clint since returning. No doubt they were having a few words with Fury after that encounter with Tron.

"How did you learn how to heal programs?" Quorra asked, eyeing Mira curiously as she took a seat beside her.

Beck's attention snapped from whatever he had been staring at when she spoke up. Mira knew he was trying to distract himself until the Digitizer was up and running again. His anxiety suddenly made sense; both of them wanted to return home now more than ever.

"I uh, spent a few hilocycles on my own after leaving Beck and Tron," she admitted, refusing to look at Clint or Natasha. They'd seen what happened from her memories. If they knew why she left, then they would understand. "I figured if I was going to fight back against Clu on my own, I might as well learn what Users are really capable of on the Grid. It took a while, and a few mistakes along the way, but I figured out how to modify code."

"My dad would've been proud," Flynn muttered from where he was sitting, having watched the group with slight interest.

Mira couldn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks as she realized what he meant by that. Her thoughts drifted back to the reasons behind running away in the first place. She knew that part of it had been fear of the safety towards other programs. She had already stayed long enough as it was, and she caused enough trouble. Able's death and Cyrus's threat was what had really led to her running away, though.

She found herself leaning into Beck when they finally sat down after waiting for what felt like pectrocycles. It had been a long enough day without making things anymore awkward with Natasha and Clint watching their every move. She hadn't missed the fact that they had been silently arguing with each other. From the looks that were passed to a few whispers here and there, it was clear they had unsettled business to take care of.

 _We'll have to explain ourselves sooner or later_ , she reminded herself silently, _They know something is up_.

Relief swept through her when the Digitizer finally became operational. Because the technology was so new, Flynn didn't want to overwork the system and cause a power-surge. It made sense, as much as Mira hated to admit it. She didn't want to be responsible for causing a blackout throughout the city just to get back to the Grid, and risk getting stuck again.

"Once I set the system, it should last a while longer," Flynn explained after typing in a few command codes from his desk, "This thing takes a massive amount of power, so I don't wanna take any risks."

"Two hours should be more than enough time for us," Natasha said with a firm nod.

Mira glanced at her anxiously, surprised she hadn't gestured to the three of them.

She knew that she would be staying on the Grid, from now on. While she had agreed to getting an apartment across Steve's apartment, she didn't plan on sticking around the Real World. That agreement came with the acknowledgement that she could possibly spend more time getting to know her parents.

Once Flynn activated the Digitizer, that familiar pins and needles feeling came rushing back. Mira had to blink a few times before the red haze cleared, revealing the vast emptiness of the Outlands. She exchanged a knowing look with Beck when she noticed that Argon City loomed in the distance.

"I think I know where we need to go," she whispered, and Beck nodded in agreement.

By now, Natasha and Clint had already acclimated to how they operated as a team. Neither needed to say a word when Mira rezzed her light cycle, with Beck doing the same nanocycles later. All four of them were already headed towards the mountains where Tron had kept his safehouse.

If she knew Tron, then the security program would be waiting for them. At least, that was her hope. She didn't want to think he could have derezzed while they were gone. Most of the code had been so tangled and damaged from Clu's work that she had to rework everything. She was able to decipher most of it and put everything back together, but, that didn't mean that it had worked.

She tried shaking off the uneasy thoughts when they reached the mountains. Beck had already stopped in front of the mountains, glancing at Mira uneasily.

"Do you think we should warn him about the Users?" he asked.

Mira followed his gaze, knowing that Tron wouldn't take kindly to seeing two more strangers among his presence. After what Clu did to him, she wouldn't blame him for lashing out on them. They needed to handle the situation slowly, and approach him with caution.

"I thought you said he wasn't a threat?" Clint asked, crossing his arms as he studied the pair.

"He isn't," she replied without missing a beat, "The problem is, Tron's been through enough thanks to Clu. There's no telling how he'll react to people he doesn't know."

Clint seemed to think that through before giving a faint nod. Natasha looked unhappy with the idea of them going ahead, but, she didn't argue.

With that thought in mind, the two of them walked in together. Mira sucked in a breath as she felt Beck's hand squeeze hers gently. He knew that this couldn't be easy, for her. She had blamed herself for what happened to Tron, and everything else. None of what happened was her fault. She needed to see that, though, herself.

The safehouse looked like it did before she'd healed Tron's injuries. For a moment, she was afraid that it might not have worked. But, the moment they reached the top floor was when the lights flickered around them.

She couldn't hide the wary smile that followed when she saw a familiar figure standing in the middle of the room. It had been so many cycles since she saw Tron back in full health. In reality, they had only been in the Real World for a few hilocycles. She found it hard to believe that such little time had passed since they first arrived in the Real World. Everything had happened so fast that it felt as if they were there for xilacycles. She had been a bit surprised when Clint brought her back to reality with how much time really passed.

"You came back."

Tron eyed the pair warily. With his mask receded, she could see that all of his injuries had healed. Mira had never felt more relieved than the moment she realized he was back.

"Of course, we did," Beck retorted. Then he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly when Tron threw him a knowing look, "I mean, we always planned on coming back—"

"I know what you mean, Beck," Tron shook his head, before his piercing gaze fell on Mira.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, earning a look of surprise from both Tron and Beck, "For everything…" She swallowed back the lump forming in her throat as guilt crawled through her for the umpteenth time, "Maybe if I hadn't left, none of this would have happened."

"Mira, you can't blame yourself for what happened," Tron sighed after realizing where she was getting at with her apology, "Don't apologize for something you had no control over."

She looked at Tron anxiously, searching his eyes for signs of anger or frustration towards what she did. Instead, he kept his gaze guarded. Without warning, she suddenly rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Tron stiffened instinctively from her contact, and she couldn't hide her own surprise.

"When Flynn and Quorra explained what happened, we thought you'd crashed into the Sea of Simulation," she admitted, hoping that she didn't look like too much of a mess.

Tron only shook his head before taking a step back, "I'm not sure how I ended up back in the safehouse."

"Maybe when Flynn rebooted the system, it sent you back here," Beck suggested, knowing that it was a possibility.

Mira glanced at him warily as she returned to his side, feeling a bit apprehensive as to what she would say next. She knew that Natasha and Clint had been waiting long enough. They would want to meet Tron themselves. Once they did, there was no telling what would happen after that. She could already imagine every worst-case scenario playing out, between Tron reacting violently or Clint and Natasha reacting violently. Either ending didn't sound pleasant, and she wanted to make sure the situation was defused as quickly as possible.

"You aren't alone, are you?" Tron's question caught Mira by surprise.

She swallowed hard and looked down at the floor.

"They aren't here to hurt you, but, we were worried about how you would react to seeing new faces," she explained.

Tron nodded in understanding.

Once she knew that he wasn't going to react badly, she decided to take the chance and introduce him to the two Users who were waiting outside.

Sure enough, Natasha and Clint were waiting impatiently outside. Clint had started pacing, while Natasha leaned against a boulder with her arms crossed. Both looked up in surprise upon her arrival. Gesturing for them to follow, she led the way back inside.

Eerie silence filled the safehouse when the three of them had reached the top floor where Tron and Beck were waiting. Mira could practically feel Clint's gaze boring through her when she reached Beck's side. He threw her a sympathetic look after guessing why she was so anxious to get this done and over with.

The moment Tron caught sight of Natasha was when he looked between her and Mira before putting two and two together. Most Users caught on quickly enough, especially after the last few cycles. It was one of the many reasons Mira had been reluctant to go out in public without a disguise of some sort.

"You're Users," he said after recovering from his initial surprise.

"Clint Barton," Clint introduced himself gruffly, crossing his arms as he studied Tron seriously.

"Natasha Romanoff," Natasha did the same in a less tense tone.

Though, Mira hadn't missed how she was scrutinizing Tron herself.

"Yeah, it takes some getting used to," Clint put in after catching Tron's questioning look.

He threw Natasha a look that said it all.

 _Some things will never change_ , Mira rolled her eyes as she glanced at Tron uneasily.

"What happened while you were in the Real World?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

Mira and Beck spent the next few microcycles explaining what had happened. She left out the part where they were taken in by Natasha when SHIELD discovered their presence. Those first few cycles in SHIELD's facility had been hell for her. Not just because she was surrounded by people she didn't know or trust, but because of her most recent injuries.

Tron remained silent as they went on to explain that Cyrus had been captured, and Pavel defeated in battle. The Portals had been closed throughout the Grid, making their lives a little easier. Once she reached the point where she had discovered that Natasha and Clint were her parents by birth, Tron nodded in understanding. He seemed to have reached that conclusion when he noticed how similar Mira looked to Natasha.

"You're sure that the prison Cyrus is in will hold him?" Tron looked at Natasha and Clint pointedly.

"He's already on the verge of dying," Natasha replied passively, "Whatever happened to him while he was on the Grid followed him to our world. He won't be escaping, any time soon."

She hoped Natasha was right. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew that Cyrus always had a trick up his sleeve. He would always find a way out of a prison, even if it meant risking his life in the process.

"We'll keep an eye on him," Clint added reassuringly, looking back defiantly.

Sucking in a breath, Mira found herself gazing down at the floor when she realized that their time was almost up. Natasha and Clint had already planned on leaving once the Digitizer activated, again. She planned on staying with Beck and Tron. They would need all the help they could get to restore order back to the Grid, now that it was fully functional.

"You're planning on staying here, aren't you?" Tron guessed after catching her expression.

"I was asked to stay in the Real World, but, I can't turn my back on the Grid… it feels more like home than the Real World ever will," she admitted.

She looked back at Natasha and Clint, keeping her own gaze guarded. A small part of her did feel guilty for leaving them so abruptly. Everything had happened so quickly, between finding out that they were her parents, to finding out about Flynn taking over the company, to finally realizing that they could return home to the Grid.

"We'll be keeping in touch," Clint reminded her, still not happy with the idea of leaving her behind.

While she was in safe hands with Tron and Beck, that didn't mean he didn't want to spend more time getting to know her. Mira allowed herself a rare smile as their eyes met knowingly. It wasn't going to be easy for him, especially since he had only just begun getting to know her. But she was right about one thing. They were worlds apart; she'd grown up without the knowledge that he was her father by birth, or that Natasha was her mother.

The damage had already been done, and there was no turning back the clock. Yet, he sure as hell planned on making up for everything he missed out on, even if she wasn't happy with the idea.

"I wouldn't expect anything different," she replied, feeling another lump forming in her throat.

Clint suddenly pulled her in close. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she understood that this wasn't the last time they would see each other. They had already made plans to stop by the Grid every now and then, and to learn how the Grid operated.

"Take care of yourself, kid," the archer added when they reluctantly pulled apart. "And _you_ better make sure nothing happens to her," he added to both Beck and Tron.

Beck nodded earnestly, having already faced his wrath before. Clint may not have showed it often, but, he did care in more ways than one. Mira could never thank him enough for what little comfort he had provided when she was just beginning to reconnect with the Real World.

"I am sorry, for everything that has happened to you," Natasha began once Mira turned to face her, "I know it isn't enough to make up for giving you up."

She found it hard to believe this was the same woman who had been so cold and calculating just pectrocycles ago. She had a difficult enough time accepting the fact that Natasha was her mother by birth. Yet, Mira knew that she couldn't choose who her parents were. She wouldn't want it any different, as much as she hated to admit it.

"I forgive you, mom," she replied, catching Natasha off guard.

Their interactions may have been awkward, but Mira understood why Natasha was so reluctant to go any further then a hug or a few words of comfort. She was never used to actually being a mother. Mira didn't want to put her in a position that made her uncomfortable.

Despite all of that, the exchange they made was subtle, yet enough for Mira to understand that the feelings were mutual. She stood between Beck and Tron as the Digitizer activated once more. The red lights that appeared around Natasha and Clint signified that they were sent back to the Real World.

"So, what now?" Beck asked once they were gone, glancing at Tron uneasily.

"We need to remind programs that they're safe," Tron replied without missing a beat, "With the Grid restored back to what it was before Clu took over, there's going to be confusion and panic among programs."

"Guess that means we'll be busy for the next few cycles," Mira murmured thoughtfully.

It may not have been easy work, but, Mira looked forward to working on the Grid, again. It gave her a sense of purpose that the Real World could never do.

Whatever the case, she looked forward to the challenges that lay ahead of them.

* * *

 **AN: And, there's the last chapter for Freedom :) I hope I didn't make it seem too rushed... though, considering this had been split into three chapters in the original, I feel as though that was rushed. There will be one more story before these rewrites are finished, called Goodbye Ordinary. I do plan on taking my time with that one, because it is so much heavier compared to the others, and will probably have a much darker take on the others. Aside from that, I don't plan on giving away any spoilers :P Also, I wanted to thank Retrokill for taking the time to review as often as you did. Thank you again for reviewing, I truly do appreciate it :)**

 **Retrokill - Indeed he is ;) And, thanks. I'm glad that you've been enjoying :)**


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